


Half-Blood Runaways

by karolinaxminoru



Category: Runaways (TV 2017), The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-04-18 07:57:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 27,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14208666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karolinaxminoru/pseuds/karolinaxminoru
Summary: An first person POV AU fic (although story might be a better choice) where the Runaways are half-bloods and make their way to Camp Half-Blood. Might have continuations.





	1. The Reunion Goes Horribly

**Author's Note:**

> Characters like Percy Jackson do not exist, neither do teams like the Avengers, although some other characters might appear as well. The team is the original line-up, minus Old Lace. The PRIDE exists, although there are only 6 parents, and their reason for conducting the sacrifices are significantly different. Jonah is not involved, although the PRIDE answers to someone with power. The Runaways are 17 years old, except Molly, who is fifteen. Amy died a year before this story starts, although the group wasn't completely fractured by her death. Alex and Chase are brotp, while Deanoru and Gertchase are endgame. I drew quite a bit of inspiration from the original books (since I'm not very creative) but hope you guys enjoy!! Inspiration for this came from @queenhippolyta on tumblr

(Chase)

“Bzz….Bzz….Bzz”

“Alright, alright, I’m up! ” I picked up my phone and looked at the screen. The screen read : “Alex”.

“Shit. I’m late.”

I picked up the call and went  “Before you say anything……”

“ ………… Huh?” I could actually _hear_ Alex Wilder’s confusion.

“That’s it, I just don’t want you to say anything.”

“You know you’re late right? We were supposed to meet at 1130 for lunch. It’s 1 now.”

“Jeez yeah I know, give me 20 minutes to freshen up and I’ll head out.”

“Please don’t be late again, we’ve got the D&D meeting at 130 and we’re meeting the others at Nico’s place at 6.”

“Got it, _Mum_.”

“Why are we friends again ?”

“Because you wouldn’t leave me alone in 7th grade. One thing led to another, and look what happened. This is on you, y’know.”

“Asshole.”

“Wank.”

I hear Alex chuckle. “See you later man.”

“Yeah yeah see you.”

I rush around my room grabbing the first items of clothing i can find to wear, wash up and shower, then head out of my room, running past my workshop. Thankfully, my stepfather isnt home. Probably out preparing for the big PRIDE meeting tonight. That thing really took priority over anything else in his life, I thought. Well, I’m not complaining. It brought me my 5 closest friends and it gets him away from me for one night. But then it’s back to the usual shit he does.

I wince instinctively, phantom pains shooting across my back and chest. I begin to breathe heavily and I feel heat rising from my core - _STOP_. I clench my fists and take deep breaths to control my heart rate. I can’t have another incident again. Not again. Not after what happened last time. After a few minutes, I get my breathing under control. Grabbing my sneakers, I pick up my backpack and speed out of the door.

30 minutes later, I reach the park 

where Alex had been waiting for me and began apologizing.

“It’s fine Chase, the meeting’s actually at 2 so you’re early!! Isn’t it great how things work out? Right? Right? Am I right?”

I stared at him in mock disbelief.

Having been best friends since the 7th grade, there was (almost) nothing we didn’t or couldn’t talk about. After meeting the others, our bond grew stronger than ever. After all, we were the only two guys in a group with 4 girls. I was the first person he came out as asexual to, 2 years into our friendship when I had been pestering him to tell me if he had had a crush on anyone. He was the only person I could talk to about my feelings towards Gert, and the only other person who knew that I was a victim of domestic violence. When he first heard about it, he was pissed off and wanted to do something, but I decided against it, since I reasoned that I could actually protect myself now, and that I just didn’t want to go to the cops or anyone else. Respecting my wishes, he limited his help to comforting me and being my constant listening ear.

Although, he still didn’t know about the incident…..

Anyway, I taught him how to defend himself from bullies (bullies are inevitable, since people are jerks) and he helped me with my studies. It was easy for him, since he was just about the smartest kid I knew. He was President of the Strategic Games Club, and one of the top students every year. His strategic abilities were honed and shown at his regular D&D meetings. I accompanied him there occasionally as he needed a pawn to attack with occasionally, and I went along with it to humor him.

After 3 hours of Alex acing the campaign (no pun intended) and me going along with him blindly, we headed to grab something light to eat before meeting the other kids. While waiting for our food, we started talking about the gang and how long it had been since we actually met up. I mean, sure, we kept in touch using our group chat, but it had really been a while since we met in person.

“So, tonight gonna be the night you finally tell Gert how you feel about her?” Alex started.

Real subtle, Wilder.

“Hmmmmmm. Sure, and maybe tonight will be the night Karolina finally dumps that chick she’s with and actually gets together with Nico. Seriously, she’s been vibing on Nico so hard that it’s a little hard to watch.”

 “Don’t change the subject, Stein. Seriously. You’ve been pining for Gert since you first met her. I swear I still get flashbacks from the day you talked about her non-stop. And that was 7 years ago.  You like her. That much is obvious. So what’s stopping you?”

“Simple. It’s clear she doesn’t like me back. And I’m happy with what we have right now. So what if I’m the guy she regularly calls an idiot? I’ll take it ‘cause it’s the only contact I have with her. She’s way too good for me, and I’d just annoy her. I can’t even carry a conversation with her. And what if we get together with, and I screw it up like I inevitably do? It would hurt too much. So yeah. I’ll stick to this.”

“Alright dude I get it. I’ll drop it. ” Alex replied with empathy in his eyes. We finished up our meals in silence and headed up to Nico’s place.

Tina Minoru opened up the door. “Alex. Chase.”

“Hi, Ms Minoru. Are Nico and the others here yet?”. “They’re in Nico’s room.” She tilted her body back slightly. We took it as the signal that we should enter.

“Wizey, let Nico know that her guests are here.”

I pushed the door to Nico’s room open and was immediately hit with a bear hug by a figure that came up to my chest level.

“Hi Chase! It’s been so long since we last saw each other!” Molly yelled into my chest.

“Hey kiddo! I’ve missed you too, but I kinda gotta breathe yeah? Maybe you could take Alex’s breath away now?” I said, while rubbing her head affectionately. I really loved hanging out with Molly as she acted like the little sister i never had and I always felt an urge to protect her.

She backed away, looking slightly embarrassed, before charging towards Alex. I took this time to greet the others. Naturally, Gert was the first one I greeted.

“Hey Gert.” I said, smiling slightly.

“Hey.” She replied while folding her arms and adjusting stray strands of her purple hair, not making any eye contact with me.

Feeling awkward already, I decided to move on before I started to blush. I saw Karolina next, who greeted me with a hug too. She looked as fair as always, which was to be expected since her mother never let her stay out in the sunlight for too long for some unexplained reason. Around her neck was a necklace which I knew contained a picture of her and her girlfriend.  And finally, our host, Nico. She was dressed in her signature all black clothes, and looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here. She had been like this since her sister died, which had happened exactly a year ago, and even though we had all been affected by Amy’s death, Nico took it the hardest, and alienated herself from all of us. It took about 5 months of convincing for Nico to cave in and decide to take part in this gathering. I said hey to her and she simply replied with a nod of acknowledgement.

“So what now?” Gert asked. “I mean, ‘girl talk’ was fun, but now there are guys here, so we should probably shift gears.”

“How about Cards Against Humanity?” Molly suggested. We all turned and looked at her, even Nico. “What?” Molly asked.

“You are way too young to have heard of that game.” I said.

“Jeez, Chase, I’m 15 already, you know. I’m not entirely vanilla.” Molly retorted, making us all feel incredibly uncomfortable.

“Ooooooookay, I’m gonna have to limit your time online.” Gert sighed. “Anyone else has a better suggestion?”

“How about we go check up on what the parents are doing?” Alex suggested. “I mean, you guys _have_ to be wondering what’s going on with them.” The others didn’t look convinced though, and Alex looked at me, silently looking for support. I got the feeling that this was important to Alex and decided to go along with it. “I think we should go look for the parents too. I know _I_ am curious. Worst case scenario, we can raid Tina’s liquor cabinet. What’s the worst that could happen? ” Alex mouthed the words “Thank you.”

“Where did they go? I thought they were supposed to be meeting here.” I questioned out loud as we stepped out of Nico’s room. “They wouldn’t do it in the living room, genius.” Gert retorted. “Clearly they’d be in a study or meeting room. Nico, where’s the study?” Nico pointed to a room at the end of the hallway. We made our way in only to find it empty.

“Ok this is weird. Why are their bags here but they’re nowhere to be seen?” Karolina asked. Alex said “I bet that there’s a secret tunnel or passageway in here, we just gotta find it.” “Alex, I think you’re playing too much D&D. Secret tunnels don’t exist in real life.” Gert said.

Alex started blushing and I decided to step in. “Well they couldn’t have all gone to the bathroom. If they had all left the house, they would have taken their things with them. When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Everyone looked at me, surprised. It might have been my imagination, but Gert even looked a little impressed. “What? I’m not a total idiot, you know.” I said, feeling slightly proud of myself. Alex gave me a thumbs up behind everyone’s backs. Gert sighed. “Alright, everyone split up and try everything.”

“Hmm maybe it’s behind the huge bookshelf. How cliche would that be honestly? Karolina wondered.

“It might actually be. There’s a slight scuffing under the book ‘Pride and Prejudice’ here.” Alex said.

“So?” Gert asked.

“Unless Tina _really_ loves Pride and Prejudice, there’s something up with this book.”

I pulled the book out and the whole shelf shifted, revealing a passageway. “Yay. Molly, you stay here with Gert alright?” I asked. “Hey, what the hell? Why are we the ones left behind?” Gert questioned. Alex replied “ Well you two are adopted sisters, so it makes sense that you two would be seen together, and it might not be safe for just one person to wait here if our parents really are into some shady shit.” “Okay, but I want my displeasure on the record.” “Duly noted.” I quipped. Gert rolled her eyes and shooed us in.

The four of us headed down the passageway, and after about 10 minutes of walking, we arrived at stairs leading down into a cavernous room. We saw our parents dressed in togas standing around a strange looking statue. “What kind of weird shit is this?” I whispered. “No idea. Also why are we whispering?” Alex whispered back. I shrugged and continued observing the parents. Gert’s dad and stepmom Dale and Stacey, Alex’s dad Geoffrey, and my stepdad Victor placed a hand on the statue, while Tina raised a strange looking rod with a circular disc on the top of the rod. Karolina’s mum, Leslie, pulled a knife out from under her toga as Tina gestured with the rod and a teenage girl floated in until she was floating over the statue, struggling against chains that seemed to be glowing. “What the hell?” Nico said the first thing she had said to us that day. Even she was clearly freaked out by whatever was going on. We watched on as Leslie gently touched the cheek of the girl, said something inaudible, circled behind the girl, and slit her throat.


	2. My Girlfriend Is A Vamorse (? Hompire? I’m Not Thinking Straight My Mom Is Grounding Me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moving on with the story, the Runaways are about to run into some familiar faces.

(Karolina)

I couldn’t help it. I screamed. Thankfully, Nico reached out and covered my mouth, but I was still too much in shock to enjoy this contact between Nico and me. My mother. Just slit the throat of a teenager. Of a person. I saw blood spilling out of the girl and onto the statue, which began to glow. I was vaguely aware of Alex and Nico dragging me back into the passageway as we ran back towards the door. I heard Alex and Chase talking when we arrived back in the study “-we going to do now? Our parents totally just took part in a murder, Alex. It’s not safe for us here. We have to run.” “You sure they saw us?” “They definitely did. I heard my stepdad mouth my name and point at us. They know it’s us.” “Okay, it’s actually happening now. Okay let’s go.” “Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?” “ I’ll explain once we’re far away enough and safe but now we have to go.”

Gert and Molly walked in from the kitchen and upon seeing my shocked expression, started bombarding Chase and Alex with questions. I stood up uneasily. “Chase is right. We have to go. We can talk later but there’s no time now.” “What about our stuff? Our clothes?” Molly asked. “No time. We have to go now. Trust us please.” Alex stated flatly.

We ran out of the apartment into the park nearby and took refuge in the woods. Alex seemed to know his way around the place and led us deeper in. We came into this sort of clearing, where we couldn’t see any sign of civilisation looking around. I didn’t even understand how such a place could exist, especially in Los Angeles. While Gert, Alex, and Nico tried to catch their breath ( Molly was surprisingly unwinded ), I took the time to message Tryphena and tell her that I had run away from home. She replied immediately, asking where I was, why I was running away from home, and if I needed anything. Not wanting to tell her what I just saw, I simply told her where I was and that I wanted to see her. She texted back, saying that she’d be there as soon as she could. I kept my phone with shaking hands, unable to process what I had just seen. My mum was a murderer. Who just slit the throat of some girl. It was just too much to handle.

I decided to rejoin the group and when I came back, Alex was still trying to explain the situation to Gert and Molly without scarring Molly too much. “-and then she… erm….killed the girl.” “So what now? What, are we gonna live in the wilderness? All our parents are involved, and if we go back to our houses, who knows what’s gonna happen? For that matter, how are we gonna find shelter and food without any money?” Gert asked. “I have cash, but I’m not sure how long we can stay here. It’s way too exposed and come morning time, people are gonna be walking by. The last thing we need is for the cops to arrest us for loitering or some such.” Alex told us.

“I can help with that.” A female voice came from behind us.

“Oh my gosh, babe! It’s so good to see you.” I went to Tryphena and hugged her.

“Well you needed me, so obviously I had to come for you..” Tryphena said, moving a strand of my hair behind my ear.

“How did you know where to find us? How did you even know we were out here?” Alex questioned.

“Karo texted me, saying she ran away from home, and that she needed me. I couldn’t leave her alone, y’know.” Tryphena replied, and started to kiss me.

I was swooning and felt light-headed, and barely even heard Alex say “Karolina, get away from her. Now.” and a metallic clicking sound.

Suddenly I was thrown to the ground as a “BANG” sound rang out, Tryphena’s head jerked backwards and she fell on the ground. I turned and saw Alex holding a gun, smoke still coming off the barrel. “What the hell? WHAT THE HELL? What did you just do?” I ran into him, punching him in the stomach.

Chase held me back, stepped in and looked me straight in the eye. “Karolina, that’s not Tryphena.” “The hell is that supposed to mean?” I turned and saw Tryphena standing up and walking towards me, brushing herself off. My eyes widened.

“Oh, I am Tryphena, I’m just not what you think I am.”

“I saw pointed fangs. What are you, a vampire?” Alex demanded, still pointing the gun straight at Tryphena. “Oh please, vampires were based on my kind. I’m an empousa, servant of Hecate, but I’m on a special mission right now.”

She charged forward with inhuman speed, smacking the gun to the ground and throwing Alex aside, knocking Chase and Nico to the side, and knocking Gert and I down. But when she reached Molly, Molly pushed at her and Tryphena flew back into a tree. I looked on in disbelief as Molly charged towards Tryphena, ripped up a small tree with a thick trunk and swung it like a bat straight into Tryphena. Tryphena flew backwards, s mashing into trees and being bounced around like a rag doll.

“Go! I got this! Hit the bad guy right? ” Molly shouted and charged forward, handling the tree like it weighed nothing.

“What the hell just ha-” Gert was cut short as a gust of wind pushed her backwards onto the ground.

“Karolina Dean. Please don’t make me hurt you or any of your friends. Come in quietly and I can explain this to you. To all of you.” Mom walked forward with her hand stretched out. The other parents walked in with her. Tina was holding the same rod she had been using in the chamber. Geoffrey was wielding dual blades made of a strange metal that looked like bronze. Dale and Stacey were wielding axes and shields, while Victor was wearing strange gauntlets. The weapons all looked like they were made of the same metal.

“You all murdered someone. What is there left to explain?” Nico roared at the parents, shocking us all with this outburst of emotion. “We’re not going back with you peacefully, or at all.” Nico said before charging straight at Tina. We took this as a signal and charged towards our own parents together.

Gert was subdued almost immediately by Dale and Stacey. I went for my mother and was blasted back by a strong gust of air. She didn’t move her hand or let up and the wind kept me pressed against the ground. I saw Tina attempt to block Nico’s blow with the rod and watched as it was somehow absorbed into Nico’s body. Tina looked shocked before she gave Nico a backhand slap and knocked her back onto the ground. I probably have a concussion. I’m definitely seeing things.

I saw Victor yelling and sneering at Chase before knocking him into the ground and proceeding to beat him up with the gauntlets, Chase hardly doing anything to defend himself. Alex fared slightly better, managing to disarm Geoffrey but was still eventually knocked down when he saw Chase being beaten up and got distracted, and Geoffrey slashed him across the back with his other sword.

Before long, we were all gathered together, defeated. I saw Tryphena dragging Molly along the ground and threw her about a metre towards us. I was definitely seeing things, because her skin was chalk white, her eyes were glowing red, and she had mismatched legs. One appeared to be made of metal and the other was the leg of a horse. She sneered, “These are the kids I was supposed to beware of? Please, Leslie, this is insulting. Wasn’t even a challenge for me.”

Leslie ignored her (God, I couldn’t even call her mom anymore) and turned towards the parents. “We should probably restrain the children and bring them back to the study now. It might not be a good idea to be out in the public using our abilities with you-know-who possibly watching us.”

Thoughts were swirling in my head. Tryphena clearly wasn’t a human. But she was working with Leslie? What was going on? Who was Leslie talking about? The parents moved towards us but Tina stopped, frowning. “Could have sworn it was brighter a minute ago.”

Out of nowhere, Tryphena started screaming in pain and fell forward, an impossibly bright object sticking from her back. Before our eyes, she began to dissolve into dust. “ Shit. Back to back, everyone.” Tina ordered.

A voice rang out clearly through the chaos. “Ty! Night time.” The surroundings became even darker and out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of white before it disappeared into the dark. Four more flashes of light flew towards Dale, Stacey, Geoffrey, and Victor, hitting them in their shoulders or legs. They fell to the ground, shrieking in pain. The flashes looked like arrows sticking out of the parents. Tina pulled out a knife and began deflecting the flashes of light and Leslie began firing gusts of wind and what looked like lightning blasts at the flashes.

I suddenly felt incredibly cold. I heard someone whisper from all around me. “You’re safe now. We’re getting out of here. Tandy can keep them busy.”

The darkness spread and I blacked out.


	3. I Receive Way Too Much Information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Runaways

(Alex)

My dreams suck.

I dreamt that I was falling in a dark cavern. It didn’t seem to have an end and stretched on forever. I tried to scream but every muscle in my body was frozen. As I continued to fall, I began to feel chills running up and down my spine and felt the presence of something ….. Ancient. Hateful. Evil.

A raspy voice spoke. It resembled the sound keys make while being dragged across a metal table. “ So, you ran away. How predictable. You cannot escape from what you will become. The weapons your parents brought you up to be. The _ pride _ of the PRIDE.” I tried to reply, but I still couldn’t. “ And you. The strategist. I know you. You won’t have the guts to do anything. Go ahead. Hide out at camp. Wait and cower in the safety of the cabins. I will return, and when I do, I will raze the fields of the camp. I will pull Mount Olympus down brick by brick. You will watch your friends and everyone you ever loved suffer.  And the Olympians will realize that pride truly was their downfall.” The voice began laughing as I fell further into the darkness.

I woke up covered in cold sweat yelling, “Chase!” I was in a cubicle lying on a bed by myself, but I could see out through the window in the door. I couldn’t see any of my friends, which made me worry. As I was about to try and get out of bed, a well dressed man with a beard on a wheelchair rolled into my room.

“Ah, good morning, Mr Wilder. My name is Chiron. Good to see that you’re up on your feet. Well not yet, but we’re close. I trust that you’re feeling better now?”

Unable to find the words to speak, I simply nodded.

“Let us take a walk. It’ll be a good way to show you the camp.”

I froze. Camp? The voice in the darkness had mentioned a camp. I decided to follow this Chiron character out to the main camp, at least to figure out what was going on.

I was blown away. The camp was gorgeous. Stepping out of what I assumed was the medical building, there was a house with a bright red roof. On the left there were several cabins arranged in a horseshoe pattern around a campfire pit and seats. On the right, there was an enormous field with several buildings whose purpose I couldn’t determine. “I trust you must be feeling rather confused now, aren’t you, Mr Wilder?” “Alex is fine, and yes, I am. What’s going on? How did I get here?”

“Well to answer your first question - and I am getting used to this as I’ve done this speech 5 other times already- This is Camp Half-Blood. To make things as simple as possible, all the myths are true. In this instance, the Greek Gods and Goddesses from myths exist and interact with the modern world. When they bear children with mortals, these childrens are half-bloods or demigods. Half human, half god. Unfortunately, as the Greek Gods and Goddesses exist, monsters from the Greek myths exist as well, and actively seek out demigods in the outside world to take out. Most demigods make their way here one way or another by their 14th birthday, which is also when their demigod abilities manifest. This is also when monsters tend to hone in on these demigods and attack them. It is rather fortuitous that you and your friends survived till your current age - I believe you are all 17, with the exception of Ms Hayes?” I nodded. “As I was saying, fortuitous that you and your friends survived without any external aid or running into any monsters.”

“Well, we did encounter an empousa.”

“I know. Tandy reported it to me. An empousa remaining among you for that long is a bad sign. Why she decided to hide in plain sight amongst your group, I am unsure. I am sure answers will present themselves to us in due course.  Yes, monsters attacking demigods are a prevalent trend we have observed. When we detect attacks like this, we track the demigods in question down and send satyrs or more experienced half-bloods to bring them in safely.”

“Is that how we got here?”

“Yes, I sent Tandy and Tyrone in to retrieve you and your friends. They are probably two of the more experienced half-bloods present and are stronger together than apart.”

“How did they do….. Whatever they did?”

“Well, Tyrone is a son of Hades, and can manipulate darkness and shadow travel. He directs his abilities through the cloak he always wear. Tandy, on the other hand, is a daughter of Apollo. She is gifted in archery and can manifest hard light, which she forms into arrows to shoot. It is a rather unique pairing, light and darkness, but it works.”

I was intrigued, yet somehow disappointed at the same time. I had never shown any special gifts, and did not feel ready to be told that I was mundane, ordinary, especially in this collection of unique not-quite-humans. “So do all half-bloods have powers like that?”

Chiron, sensing my secondary question, assured me, “Not all demigods show abilities like Tandy and Tyrone. Sometimes, they have abilities that are not physically obvious, and some do not have abilities at all. But regardless, we train all demigods who participate to be able to fight with some degree of proficiency. We’ll make a warrior out of you yet.”

For some reason, I desperately felt the urge to tell him about the dream I had, but dismissed the idea, reasoning that he might think I was crazy. Instead, I asked the question I had been wondering about since I woke up. “Where are my friends?”

“They came to a while ago. Your friend Molly is incredibly resilient. She woke up almost immediately after Tyrone brought you all in. We had to feed you ambrosia, the food of the gods, to keep you healthy and wake you up. Beware, though. Too much of it will burn you up. Literally. I can bring you to meet them, if you wish.”

I nodded and moved to follow him.

“I forgot to ask, how do you know this place? You seem so…..  _ Normal _ .”

Chiron chuckled at this question.

“After a few thousand years, you l earn to take on a more mundane form initially so as to not shock new campers. Observe.”

I was wondering if I heard him right when he began to move like he was getting up, but his legs appeared to be stationary. His body continued to move out of the wheelchair, which I realized was probably much larger than it appeared to be.

Suddenly, horse-like legs appeared from within the chair. Wait, no. Actual horse legs. I watched on in shock as the lower half of a horse’s body emerged from within the wheelchair.

“You’re….. You’re a….. Centaur.” I stammered.

“Well done, Alex. Now come. Your friends are waiting for you.”


	4. The Gang Gets Back Together. Again. (Karolina Looks Really Good)

(Nico)

It was way too hot. Wearing all black was a choice, but it was one I was beginning to regret. It’s like this campsite, wherever it was, had never experienced cloudy weather or rainfall of any sorts. I had been burning ever since I woke up, when I met Chiron and received the whole “You’re a half-blood” speech.

After he moved on, I found Karolina and Molly, who had woken up before me. Karolina was soaking in the sunlight, and she looked absolutely radiant. The way her blond hair seemed to shimmer in the sunlight, the way she smiled and squinted her eyes while looking up at the sun…….

 _Focus,_ Nico _._

I trudged forwards towards them, probably looking as miserable as I felt.

Karolina greeted me with a “Hey, Nico! Amazing weather we’re having here right?”

I stared straight at her, lifting an eyebrow in disbelief. “I’m melting and there’s too much sunlight here. I must be in hell.”

Unfazed, she continued to positively beam as she continued, “ Well, after my mum kept me from staying out under the sunlight for too long, you bet your ass I’m gonna spend as much time out here as I can.”

My gaze swept to Molly. I remembered how she had dispatched Tryphena with such ease, even ripping out that tree. I looked back at Karolina and realised that she had taken off her necklace. Why did that make me feel happy?

Shaking those thoughts out of my head, I asked, “So…. about Tryphena.”

Karolina hesitated before continued to smile and basically dance around in the sunlight. “What about her?”

I was at a loss for words before finally settling on “ I knew she wasn’t right for you.”

Karolina snickered and continued moving about.

Moving over to Molly, I noticed campers from the bunks earlier whispering and pointing at us.

“Hey, Nico. How’re you feeling?”

“Fine, Molls. What’s going on?”

She turned to look at the campers, who promptly scattered.

“They’re trying to figure out why we ended up here, and who our godly parents are. Any idea who they could be? ”

“Beats me. Never knew my dad and my mum wasn’t exactly a godly figure, unless the gods encourage excessive studying and staying at home on the weekends.”

“I talked to some of the nicer campers and they told me that under normal circumstances, campers are usually claimed by their parents within the first few hours of their arrival.”

“Normal circumstances?” I asked, my curiosity having been stoked.

“They seemed pretty scared, but they told me that the gods had gone silent for the past few weeks, and that the number of campers arriving was falling. Monsters had gotten to them in the cities, leaving their bodies outside camp for the other campers to find.”

“Damn. That’s intense.” I was, again, at a loss for words.

I decided to broach the topic of how she had managed to basically beat Tryphena across the woods like it was nothing.

“Ever since I turned 13, I’ve felt this….. strength flowing through me. I feel like I can lift a truck and knock out any bully that comes. Somehow, I also… can’t be hurt?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Can’t be hurt?”

“The first time I tried bending metal, I tried bending a small knife. It slipped across my fingers and just when I thought it was going to cut me, it just slid off, without leaving a mark. After that, I decided to test out this invulnerability. The furthest I’ve gone was taking a saw and trying to break skin.  I….. I think I’m bulletproof.” Molly continued, the biggest smile plastered across her face.

I was unused to experiencing such pure happiness, and decided to ask her what the best part about her strength was.

“Being able to protect Gert from bullies. I don’t know if you heard about this, but the first time someone tried to make fun of Gert while she was having a panic attack, I shoved him into a locker, and twisted his arm until he promised to leave her alone.”

“I think I would have heard about something like that.”

“Well, you didn’t really talk to many people in the last year, so maybe you just missed it?”

I was reminded of the incident and stopped talking, looking down at the ground. We sat in silence until Chase and Gert walked over from the med bay together.

Together? Huh. Seems like Chase was finally making a move. About time.

Upon their arrival, we attempted to consolidate the information we had, but all we knew was that this seemed to be a safe haven, and it seemed to be in our best interest that we stay here for the time being. Alex walked over with Chiron a few minutes later, and we started discussing who our godly parents could be.

“I bet you’re a son of Athena, Alex. Strategy and intelligence? That’s basically you in a nutshell.”

Alex faltered for a second, before replying, “Well, maybe you’re a son of Hephaestus, Chase. You’re a great inventor and you love working with your hands.”

Chase grinned, pleased that he and his best friend knew each other that well. “Well, we’re still gonna have to wait till we actually get claimed to know for sure, but sounds good, huh buddy?” They did their signature handshake and smiled at each other goofily.

“Well that sounds great, but what about the rest of us? We have no idea what’s going on or who our parents are.” Gert asked.

“Well, Nico could be a daughter of Hades like Tyrone? I mean they have a similar sense of fashion after all.” Karolina suggested.

I shook my head, and replied “Unlikely. I can’t summon shadows, raise the dead or even talk to them. Believe me, I tr-” I cut myself short and looked down, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Well maybe we’ll receive a sign soon?” Karolina continued, in an attempt to cheer up Gert, and change the subject.

“Or not.” I blurted out. Everyone turned towards me, unused to me interrupting or even offering input to conversations. I shrugged, going “ Well some of the other campers mentioned that the gods had gone silent. We might not get signs of who we are for quite a while, if we receive them at all.”

Everyone clamored on with more questions for me, questions I didn’t have the answers to, but I was mercifully spared by the booming sound of a bugle. We turned to the source of the sound and saw Chiron lowering his horn, who proceeded to shout, “To me, my campers!”

I shrugged again, beginning to run towards Chiron and gesturing for the others to follow. The sun had begun to set and I had this feeling that the rest of the day would be more challenging and interesting. It depends on your point of view. What do I know? I’m not a mind reader.

 


	5. As If Eating In A New Place Isn’t Strange Enough, Picking Weapons Is Somehow A Normal Task Here

(Gert)

The campers, summoned by Chiron’s horn, headed to a dining hall that we had missed out, behind the med bay. Assuming it was time for dinner, we followed the crowd over, but Chiron gestured for us to move over to him. He told us that it was a tradition for any new campers to be announced and introduced to the camp. I instantly began to worry about my appearance, and how the other campers would perceive me, and virtually all the worst-case scenarios. Molly, noticing this, grabbed my hand and squeezed it slightly. “Don’t worry, you look good, alright? It’s gonna be okay.”

I smiled weakly and pretended to squirm in her grip. “Easy there, Molls. I like my hands uncrushed.”

Molly tilted her head back slightly and laughed, the sound clear, ringing, and soothing to my ears.

Walking over to the podium behind Chiron, I looked out onto the various tables arranged in a random formation. Chiron began his speech by exclaiming, “Praise the Olympians!” The campers echoed his exclamation, although most of them seemed reluctant to give praise to the Olympians. There were murmurs all through the dining hall, and the main questions seemed to be about who we were, and who our godly parents were.

Chiron, to his credit, managed to capture the crowd’s attention. “We welcome to our camp today, 6 new half-bloods. They were attacked by an empousa and unknown assailants, and, even untrained, managed to last long enough to escape with the help of Tandy and Tyrone.” He said, pointing at the table they were seated at.

Tandy had summoned a light dagger and was spinning it around her fingers, staring at us intently. I had seen that look before. She was observing us, sizing us up. Deciding which one of us was the most dangerous. Tyrone was still wearing his cloak, and it seemed to have a life of its own, tendrils of darkness snaking and flicking out and across the cloak. He wasn't staring at us as a group; he was focusing on Chase and Nico. I felt a twinge of worry. And immediately questioned that emotion. Nico and I weren’t as close as we used to be, and Chase was….. I didn't know what he was, honestly. All I knew is that I felt strange around him. That was an emotion I didn’t need to feel more of at that moment, already feeling like a fish out of water.

I realized that Chiron had continued on with his speech “- And after dinner, we’ll be having our first games session with the new campers. It should prove to be …….. _ interesting.” _

A hand went up at the table comprised of girls who wore way too much makeup and guys who had enough product in their hair to last even Chase a year. With a few exceptions, they all fit the stereotypical “aesthetically pleasing” look. I immediately disliked them.

“Yes, Amy, you will all need to bring your weapons with you.” Chiron said, preempting the question.

The hand went down.

Another hand went up, but in the light of the torches lighting up the dining hall, it seemed to glow and glint with a metallic sparkle. Sitting around the table were campers who for some reason had opted to wear armor for dinner. I did not have high hopes for any future interactions with that table.

“Yes, Steve, the activities will involve you working with in a team.”

The metal arm went down.

I involuntarily looked over to the other five. Molly placed her hand on my back in an attempt to keep me calm, while Chase looked at me with curiosity, and at the same time, concern. Ugh. What does he think he’s doing?

Chiron, sensing he was about to lose his audience as the campers stirred, beginning to scramble to pick their teammates, attempted to round up his speech. “At any rate, eat up now, because you will all need the energy for the activities that lie ahead.”

He motioned for us to follow him off the podium, and told us that the six of us could sit at the same table until we were claimed to make the transition into camp life easier.

Alex asked “ Sorry Chiron, I think I missed it when you mentioned this, but what games will we be playing later?”

A mischievous smile flitted across his lips. “That will have to remain a secret for now, although I will say that the word ‘activities’ would be more appropriate. Now, rest. Eat. All will be revealed in due time.” He trotted away, leaving us with no idea what to do.

“What now?” Chase, clueless as ever, asked.

“Gee Chase, seeing as we’re in the dining hall, it’s dinner time, and we’re standing around a table, I  _ think _ we should sit down.” I responded, purely out of instinct. I felt bad when I saw Chase’s expression falter slightly, but the smile came back up and the guilt faded.

When we sat down, there were only plates on the table with utensils, but there was no food in sight. A young, lanky, 14 year old boy walked over and told us that the plates conjured the food we thought about when we picked them up. Somehow, that actually worked. Chase and Karolina thanked the kid, who blushed and went “Thanks. I’m Peter, by the way. Peter Parker. I’m from Cabin 9. That’s our head counselor, Anthony. We call him Tony for short.” He pointed to a man that looked like he was in his late teens, maybe even 20. “If you guys need any help, don’t hesitate to ask, yeah? I know how confusing it can be to be new here. I barely got here a year and a half ago.”

“We appreciate it, Peter.” Chase said, smiling.

“Yeah, we’ll definitely come to you if we need help.” Karolina continued, flashing Peter a huge smile. Poor kid. He was definitely going to get smitten. Already, he was blushing as he turned away and headed back to his table. Wonder who was gonna have to break the news to him.

We turned around and huddled towards the center of the table. “Did you catch what Chiron said? We’re going to need weapons.” Alex started.

“What kind of weapons though? I’ve never even handled a knife before, and I doubt most of us can fight. We might not be very safe.” Karolina looked worried, and I might have been imagining things, but she looked at Nico when she said that last sentence.

“I don’t think I’ll be taking part. I don’t like violence. I like to cut people down with my words.” I stated flatly.

“Well, I don’t need a weapon when I’ve got these guns, am I right?” Molly beamed, flexing her arms.

“Can we start eating, please? I’m starving.” Chase interjected. “You heard Chiron. We’re gonna need the energy.”

We acknowledged his point and wolfed down the food in front of us.

30 minutes later, the plates vanished from the table and Chiron called for the campers’ attention. “Stop by your cabins or the armory to grab any weapons or magical items you’ll need and gather at the fields in 5 minutes. The activities will begin soon.”

Having absolutely no possessions with us at the camp, except the clothes we had worn into camp, we decided to head to the armory before moving to the field to try and figure out what was coming for us.

Alex chose to pick up a simple sword, testing its weight. Karolina, Nico and I simply grabbed quarterstaffs, since they would probably be easier to use compared to swords, and shields. Cause, you know, protection. Chase picked up a bow and a quiver of arrows. When we looked over, Chase shrugged and said, “Maybe those 3 years learning archery as a kid is finally gonna pay off.” Molly decided to go with the bareknuckle option, and we strapped on the bulky, heavy armor we saw the kids from earlier wearing, and headed off for the field.

The field was split into four sections and at each section; the field had been split into 6 segments. I was still unclear about what was going to happen.

“Well, this is going to be an interesting night.” I turned around and saw Peter.

He was dressed very basically, opting for just the torso armor and gauntlets with strange devices above his wrists. He had an earpiece, which apparently kept him in touch with his cabin mates. There was a strange symbol on the front of his torso armor, which protruded slightly from the rest of his armor. It looked like an insect, which was rather strange. Unsure of what to say, I simply stared at him, slightly tilting my head. He clearly felt uncomfortable and turned away, stammering some excuse about how his cabin mates were calling him back. I turned away and noticed Chase staring at me.

“What, is there something on my face?” I asked sarcastically.

“No, I was just curious. What was he talking to you about?” Chase asked.

“Directions. He needed to use the little boy’s room.” I blurted out. Gods, why did I keep doing this?

He shrugged, went “Alright.” and walked away, counting the arrows in his quiver.

Chiron began his briefing, preventing me from having to go and talk to Chase.

“So, as some of you have noticed, we will be doing a zone control activity. For our newcomers, how this game works is very simple. Each team starts with 3 zones. Your objective is to take control of your opponents’ zones and knock your opponents out or off the fields. Defend your zone, take over as many segments of the enemy’s zones as you can, and the ultimate winners will get bragging rights.”

The campers let out a collective groan.

“The winning teams also win laurels and have the chance to organize the next activities session.”

This was met with cheers and whoops.

“Teams head to your pitches. And repeat after me. I will not disembowel my opponents.”

“I will not disembowel my opponents.” The campers repeated solemnly.

Well, if the campers have to actually agree not to disembowel each other, how dangerous could this activity be? It’s not like we could die or anything.


	6. The Competition Gets A Little Heated Up

(Chase)

“You are way too excited about entering a potentially dangerous situation.” Alex said disapprovingly.

I shrugged. “Well, if I’m in a dangerous situation, we all know I’m probably gonna do something stupid. So, might as well do it with a smile on my face, amirite?” I replied, sticking out my tongue at him.

Gert raised an eyebrow at me. (I seemed to bring that out in people. I don’t _actually_ know why.) “How have you stayed alive for so long?”

Molly lightly swatted her arm, bless her soul.

I shrugged again. “Beats me, Gert. I have no idea how I made it here but stuff like this happens. It’s at the point where I’m not even in charge of what happens in my life. I just go ‘Oh, so this is the shit that’s going on now. Cool’. ”

“You’ve got issues, Stein.” Gert declared, before walking off with the others.

Alex patted me on the back twice before proclaiming, with false confidence in his voice, “I think that went well.”

I rolled my eyes and dragged him along to the fields.

“Seven members of each team please enter the first zone for your team. The matches will begin in two minutes.” Chiron announced. He trotted over. “Do you have any campers in mind to team up with?” He asked, while we stared at him blankly, at a loss for words.

“We got it, Chiron. The Hephaestus cabin wants to team up with them.” Peter was an actual lifesaver. I had to fight the urge to hug him on the spot. His armor looked amazing. I couldn’t wait to forge myself some cool armor too. His head counselor, Tony, wasn’t wearing any armor except for what looked like metallic fingerless gloves. In the way of weapons, he simply had a sword strapped to his belt.

“It’s winter now, so most of the non full-time campers are at their respective homes or in the mortal world now. There aren’t as many campers here as compared to during, say, summer.” Peter explained.

“Don’t worry, the two of us will probably be enough to help you guys win.” Tony said, with a smug smirk on his face. I could almost physically feel Gert start to dislike him, and wanted to change the subject.

“All right, can we just head out there and kick some ass?” Nico questioned, saving me from having to do something. “I just wanna get this over with and go to sleep. It’s been a long day.”

Peter, Tony, Nico, Karolina, Gert, Molly, and I walked onto the field and took our positions.

“Damn. We’re playing against the Apollo cabin. And Tyrone.” Tony grimaced. “This just got a little more complicated.”

He looked at Peter and said, “We should probably suit up.”

Peter nodded and pressed the emblem on his armor, and Tony knocked his gloves together. On cue, armor seemed to flow across their skin and materialized. I heard engines within Tony’s armor powering up. I was amazed by the design of the armor, and how they had managed to create “reactive” armor. I hoped I would be able to create something like that someday.

“We should probably get ready too.” I suggested.

“Didn't know you had secret weapons like that too, Chase. You’ve been holding out on us?” Gert replied sarcastically.

At this point, I was already used to her sarcasm, but it still didn't feel good whenever she did it. I opted to move on and made the suggestion for Alex to call our plays.

“Just like a D&D game.” He broke into a smile. “This is gonna be fun.”

“Just don’t get us killed, strategist.”

There it was again. His smile faltered slightly when he heard the word “strategist”. Before, I thought I had imagined it. But now, I was sure. Something was up with him. But before I could question him, Chiron and the campers on the sidelines began counting down from 10. He suggested I head back and get ready for the match to start.

“And I’ll try not to get you guys killed.”

“Don’t push it, Wilder.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll do my best. Wouldn’t want my favorite pawn to get himself killed.”

I shook my head and headed off to join my teammates.

“3,2,1, begin!” Chiron declared.

Arrows began flying towards us, and we all ducked down. Well, all of us except Peter and Tony. Peter stretched out his arms and fired out silky threads from the gadgets on his wrists, snagging the bows from two of the other archers.

Tony activated engines within his armor, which allowed him to float through the air. He drew his sword and jetted forwards.

Alex yelled out “Alright guys, looks like Tony and Peter are clearly gonna be the point of this attack. You guys just play defense and get ready to cover Peter and Tony if they get pushed back for some reason. Nico, Karolina, head up the field, stay around the middle, and swing at anyone who gets too close. Molly, go join Tony and Peter, and try to help push the other team back. Chase, start using those arrows. Gert, cover him if the enemies get too close. Alright, let’s move, guys. You got this.”

The other girls ran forward, following Alex’s directions. I drew my bow and fired an arrow at the members of the opposite team and was pleasantly surprised when I managed to hit him, albeit in the shoulder. Gert stood behind me, nervously fiddling with her staff and shield.

“Hey, don’t worry, all right? Things are gonna be okay.”

“Why, because you’re here? The big strong man, here to keep me safe from the wolves?”

“No, because _you’re_ here. If anyone gets near me, you can always cut them down to nothing with your words, or just hit them over the head with the staff.” Gert smiled, a quick flash, before it disappeared and she pointed at something behind me.

Shadows began spreading from Tyrone’s cloak and Tandy leaped into the shadows, already forming one of her hard light arrows. I nocked an arrow, pulled my bow back, and fired at Tyrone, but he disappeared into the shadows, and the arrow embedded itself into the tree behind him.

Darkness began forming behind us and Tandy dropped down out of the shadows, swiftly firing arrows at us. Nico, Karolina and Gert were disarmed and Molly was blown back by the force of the arrow hitting her in the chest. I pulled an arrow out of my quiver but the darkness spread around me. It enveloped me and was suddenly all I could see.

I heard my stepfather’s voice in my head again. “Pathetic. You hurt everyone around you. But you can’t even do anything about it. You can’t stop it. You can’t control it. You are useless. You. Are. WEAK.”

I clenched my fists and fell to the ground.

“No. No. No. Please, no.”

“What are you gonna do, huh, weakling? Fight me? If you were, you would have done it a long time ago. You wouldn’t dare to lose control, wouldn’t you? You didn’t deserve her, you know. You were the one who killed her. Never forget that.”

 I began burning up inside. Smoke began emerging from my body and my bow and quiver began smoldering as well. I was clutching my knees and close to crying. In my mind, Victor was beating me again, just like he had done all those years after my mum died. No. After I killed her.

“So go on. Hit me, you wimp. Lose control. Hurt all your friends here. It won’t stop me. I’ll just find you and hurt you again. And I’m gonna enjoy it.”

I saw white and I yelled, releasing all the anger I had been holding onto for the past few years. This took the form of white flames bursting around me in rings. Everything around me burned.

 


	7. This Gets Way Too Intense (Also, Karolina Looks Like An Actual Pride Flag)

(Nico)

It all happened so fast. First, Tandy disarmed me with one of her arrows. Then Chase fell to the ground, rolling about, clutching his head and muttering to himself. Out of the blue, white flames erupted from around him and spread out in a circular area. 

From within me, I heard a voice say something to me in Greek. “Καλώ το προσωπικό ενός” I repeated. I felt something emerging from within me. I looked down and saw that it was the same staff my mom had used in that murder chamber, that she had hit me with, that I had seen disappear into me, that I had forgotten about until now. I gripped it and acting purely on instinct, yelled “Flame off!”

The fire faded and Chase stopped burning.  The campers from the other fields stopped and stared at us in shock. Even Tony, Peter and the players on the other team stopped. I was struggling to understand what just happened.The staff was clearly magical in nature. Which means that I just cast a spell. I didn’t know what just happened or how I knew what to do. I raised my hands, dropping the staff and gesturing towards the other campers. One of the opponents, clearly a newbie, accidentally released his grip on his bowstring and fired the arrow on his bow at me.

Karolina cried out and began glowing rainbow colors. She released a stream of rainbow energy from her arms in the direction of the arrow, which promptly disintegrated the arrow.

She looked down, shocked at what had just happened. She looked even more beautiful standing there, actually glowing rainbow colors. I realised, a little too late, that I was openly staring at her now. She blushed, which almost went unnoticed with the colors dancing across her skin.

The other campers were still pointing, but not at us now. They were pointing at something above our heads.  

I looked up, and above my head, were two glowing torches crossed over each other.

Above Karolina’s head was a smaller rainbow.

Chase had a flaming hammer above his head.

Even on the sidelines, a glowing owl hovered over Alex’s head.

Gert and Molly didn’t have anything above their heads and Gert looked like she was about to melt down. She began taking quick breaths and looking away from the watching campers. Molly was still trying to calm Gert down, but it wasn’t working and she looked like she was getting way more agitated by the minute. 

Chase tried to get up but he groaned and fell onto his back, clearly spent. A camper made the mistake of snickering at how Gert looked so uncomfortable having so much attention focused on her.

Molly lost it and charged towards him, her eyes beginning to glow pink as she yelled incoherently. The camper’s eyes widened in shock and he raised his shield in an attempt to defend himself. She ran, leapt into the air, and punched the shield. She channeled so much force into that punch, that the impact threw the camper surrounding him off their feet, and that one punch promptly broke the shield.

When Molly landed, a glowing lion’s head appeared above her head. She looked shocked and slightly proud too, but the smile faded when she saw Gert.

She still didn’t have any signs floating above her head. Tears were flowing down her face as she ran through the crowd away from us, towards the med bay.

Chase tried to get up again, but all he could do was groan and try to drag himself along the ground. We wanted to run after her but the crowd of campers drew in closer and kept us in place.

“This is a rather curious occurrence, but….” Chiron said grimly. The campers all bent their knees and kneeled before us.

“What’s going on?” I asked, although I suspected I already knew the answer.

“You guys have been claimed.” Peter whispered under his breath, intended only for me to hear.

“Nico Minoru, daughter of Hecate. Karolina Dean, daughter of Iris. Chase Stein, son of Hephaestus. Alex Wilder, son of Athena. Molly Hayes, daughter of Heracles. Hail, children of the gods. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood.” 


	8. I'm Supposed To Be Sleeping, Not Playing Therapist

(Molly)

After the whole mess with the games, none of the other campers were in any kind of mood for campfire or prizes, and began to head back to their cabins. I wanted to go look for Gert, but Chiron kept talking to us about our sleeping arrangements. Nico, Karolina and I had to sleep in an empty cabin, since Iris, Hecate, and Heracles didn’t exactly have cabins at the camp. Nico was still holding on to the staff, although Karolina had stopped glowing rainbow colours. She did still have a slight rainbow tint when you looked at her, though. Alex and Chase got to join their own cabins for the night, and the other kid Peter seemed pretty happy about that, even going as far as helping Chase to Cabin Nine. Alex didn’t seem very happy about the arrangement, however.

Heading into Cabin Eight, which Chiron told us was Artemis’ cabin, the first thing I realized was how shiny everything was. The cabin glowed silver and had silver curtains.

“This cabin is only honorary, since Artemis is an eternal maiden, but I think that she wouldn’t mind. After all, you are maidens and while we don’t have any cabins for you yet, this will have to do for now. I’d have put you in Cabin 2, but that’s Hera’s cabin and given her……. particular history with Heracles,” he said, looking at me, “I decided against it. Here are some sleeping bags for you. This is just a temporary measure, of course, until we can settle on alternative sleeping arrangements for you.”

Chiron looked at me grimly. “Molly, my dear, would you mind stepping outside for a moment? I would like to have a word with you.”

I nodded and followed him through the door.

“I have never actually encountered a child of Heracles before. I didn’t even know Heracles had mortal children. Did your mother ever mention anything about your father to you?”

I shook my head and said,“ My mother died a while after I was born and Gert’s parents adopted me. Which reminds me-”

“Alright then. Now please, my dear. I will have to consider what this could mean. Go to sleep early. We can discuss this further tomorrow.”

“Sorry, Mr Chiron, sir. Gert ran away from the fields and I haven’t seen her yet. I’m getting really worried. She has anxiety and I need to be there for her if she has an attack.”

Chiron’s expression remained grim. “Yes, I saw Miss Yorkes running away earlier. I have already tasked the nature spirits residing within the camp to keep an eye out for her.”

“I’d feel better if I could go out and look for her.”

“I understand, but the nature spirits will take good care of Miss Yorkes once they find her. The best thing you can do for her now is to rest up so you can accompany her tomorrow morning.”

Sensing that I wouldn’t be able to convince Chiron, I decided to head back into the cabin. I waited until he galloped back to the house with the red roof before sneaking out the door and headed to the med bay, hoping I would be able to track Gert down.

I wandered into the woods aimlessly for a while before I heard two people whispering. I followed the noise and came to the base of a huge tree, where I saw two shadowy figures whispering. I saw a flash of purple as the figure on the left moved and recognized it as Gert. Moving closer, I recognized Chase’s voice and couldn’t help but smile. Chase finally got to hang out with Gert alone and something could finally happen! I decided to eavesdrop on the two of them, but quickly recognized the sound of Gert taking rapid breaths, realizing that she was about to have yet another panic attack. I was about to step out from my hiding spot, when I saw Chase take Gert into his arms quickly and begin stroking her back, comforting her.

“Everything is gonna be just fine, alright? It doesn't matter if you haven’t gotten claimed yet. Like Nico said, sometimes the gods don’t send signals immediately. No matter when your godly parent claims you, it won’t change how we feel about you, okay? We will be here for you always. We got your back. You can always come straight to us if you ever need support in any way. You know we love you.” Gert’s breathing slowed and she looked into Chase’s eyes. I could feel the sparks flying between them and was thinking to myself,  _ Oh, just kiss already _ .

Gert and Chase drew closer, but just before their lips touched, Gert backed away and went, “Woah. What was that?”

“I…. I don’t know. It felt right to me. I’m sorry if that crossed a line.”

“No, it’s just….. I gotta go.” Gert pushed herself out of Chase’s arms, stood up, and ran back past me towards the cabins.

Chase put his head into his hands and groaned. I got up to leave, but I didn’t look before I stepped and broke a couple of twigs. Damn.

“Who’s there?” Chase asked, springing with his feet with his fists up.

“Relax, it’s just me.” I stepped out, with my hands up.

Chase sighed and sat back down. “I suppose you heard all of that?”

“Just the last few minutes.”

“I’m really pathetic. I even waited for her to come to after Chiron talked to me. I actually thought that I could help make things easier for her to accept, in a sense. Didn’t work. She barely acknowledged me and went straight to Chiron. It was so awkward for me to listen to the same talk from Chiron twice.” 

“She knows what you’ve done for her. She’s not blind, after all.”

Chase sighed. “What else can I do, Molls? Because I have no idea.”

“Why are you asking me again? I’m 15. I have less experience in these sorts of things than you.”

Chase shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe I just wanted a third party’s opinion. Aside from Alex, of course.”

“ Look, if you like Gert, you should just tell her. You don’t exactly hide it well, y’know.”

“That would work out great, except that I know I’m not good enough for her. She’s perfect. She’s intelligent, independent, and won’t compromise on what she wants. All I do is eventually hurt people. You saw what happened earlier.”

I had almost forgotten about the fiery incident.

“Did you always know that you could do that?”

Chase looked deep into the woods as he replied. “The first time it happened was when I turned 14. It was in the afternoon, so my mom was at home and my stepdad was at work. When it started, I thought it was cool and started shooting fire around my room. It didn’t take me long to realize that I couldn’t control the fire. It spread to the other rooms, and grew bigger as it burned. I knew I had to do something, but I couldn’t move. I was too afraid. I saw my mother, the woman who raised me, catching on fire and screaming in pain. I-I couldn’t- “ He choked up mid-sentence, struggling to control his tears.

I didn’t know what to do, except pat him on the back. I had heard what happened. We all did. Janet Stein had been killed in a fire in her home. But Victor said that Chase had been with him at work in his laboratory, and Janet’s death was classified as a freak accident. Couldn’t have been surprised that Victor would try to cover up the truth, though. Dude was not a good person.

I tried to comfort him. “All that happened a long time ago, Chase. And it doesn't matter right now. What matters are your strengths. You’re a son of Hephaestus. You’ve been inventing and building things since you were much younger. You’re definitely going to build greater things, and they’re gonna be amazing.”

Chase wiped away his tears and smiled. “I really love our conversations, y’know?”

“Well you should. I’m a genius. And kind of awesome.”

“Look….. You’re the only person I’ve told about what happened with my fire. I haven’t even told Alex yet. Don’t tell anyone else, okay? I’ll tell them, just not right now.”

“I got it.” I said, patting his shoulder.

We walked back in silence to our respective cabins. There wasn't really much else to say. When I got back to Cabin Eight, I was relieved to see Gert sleeping in the corner. I thought about going to check up on her, but decided to give her the rest she needed. We had all been through enough already. Nico was curled up in her sleeping bag, hugging the staff she had summoned during the games earlier. Karolina had set up a hammock between two columns, and was swinging slightly in the wind. I crawled back into my sleeping bad and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	9. I Understand Nothing Happening Right Now

(Alex)

I had hoped for a dreamless sleep, having been forced into a bunk in Cabin Six away from my friends after seeing my best friend almost burn our other friends barely an hour ago.

Of course, I would have no such luck. Typical.

I dreamt that I was back in that cavern, but this time I was frozen in place. I felt a stalking presence circling me, eyeing my every move. I felt impossibly cold and an icy pressure on my shoulder.

The voice spoke again. It was actually the stuff of nightmares. “Hello, Alex. Can I call you Alex? Don’t answer that.” The voice laughed. “So your friends came into their abilities and discovered their parentage. Well, all of them except Gert. But who cares about her?”

The voice continued.” Oh, I’m sure you’re wondering how I know about all this. Well, I’ve got spies everywhere. Even in your precious camp. And you really thought you’d be safe there. How naïve.”

“But stay there, Alex. Delude yourself into a sense of false security. Wait for your sins to catch up to you. The problems in the mortal world are just getting worse. And once they do catch up with you, the Olympians will pay for their sins as well. Of course, you could run. But you’d never do that. You’re too frightened.”

The cavern began to rumble. I heard whispering coming from below me, and I felt this unbelievable sense of panic. I tried to scream but still couldn’t. The darkness enveloped me.

I was clawing for breath when I woke up, gasping for air. My new cabin mates stared at me like I was insane. Muttering some excuse, I put my glasses on, and ran out of Cabin Six. I headed straight for Cabin Nine, only to see Chase already standing outside the door of Cabin Eight, knocking on the door so fast I was worried he was going to dislocate his wrist. When he saw me heading up to him, he ran over and rambled, “HeybuddyhowareyouhowwasyoursleepdidyourcabinmatestreatyouOK? IsitobviousthatI’mheavilycaffeinatedi’vehad16shotsofespressofromthedininghallandIamflyinghighmadeashittonofnewdevicesIwannashowyouguyssolet’sgolet’sgolet’sgotothearmory! Just gotta wait for the girls to wake up.”

He ran back to the door and began pounding on the door at his breakneck speed again. I was about to warn him against that when I heard someone yell a muffled “screw off” and heard a “thud” as someone threw something at the door.

Karolina opened the door, smiling at us. “Sorry about that. Hey Chase, what’s up?”

“HiKarolinaI’vegotalotofstuffIwannashowyouallsolet’sgotothearmoryalrightohheynicohowwasyournight?”

Nico walked up to the door, glaring intently at Chase. “I’d snap your neck if I wasn’t so tired.” She added a few top tier swear words, before walking back into the cabin. Karolina raised her eyebrows, clearly amused. She shrugged, as if to say “Sorry about her”, before heading back in too. 

I raised my eyebrows. “Guess we know who that was earlier.”

It took 30 minutes for the girls to wash up and finally head over to the armory, where Chase was rushing around using the forge, hammering and testing most of the devices. When we walked in through the door, Chase said, “So here we go. So, yesterday, Molly and I bro’d down, hard and she gave me the idea to make gadgets for everyone. Y’know, play to my strengths as a son of Hephaestus. So first, Alex. I made some pretty cool stuff for you.”

Chase pulled out a pistol, a belt, and several gloves similar to Tony’s.

“So first, we have the gun. It’s a .45 caliber, and I forged this specifically to shoot Celestial Bronze bullets, so you can shoot and kill monsters if we decide to go out into the mortal world. Actually, the whole gun is made of Celestial Bronze, even the magazine, so you could probably just pistol whip the monsters if you need to. But what happens when you run out of bullets? Well, that’s what the belt is for. You see this pouch here? A fully loaded magazine will appear for you to use whenever you need one. Each magazine holds 15 rounds, and the gun has been calibrated to fire accurately. You can place the gun into the holster on the belt, which would probably be better than lugging the gun everywhere. Now the gloves. I woke Peter up at 3 in the morning and asked him to help me with the technology that allowed Tony to fit his armor into those tiny gloves, and so I made a similar set of armor for you- for all of us actually- so you can stay safe if and when we go into the field. He wasn’t happy about waking up that early, but he managed to help out quite a bit. Okay fine, he did almost everything.”

I picked up the gun, which was perfectly weighted and felt like an extension of my hand. I put on the gloves, belt and slipped the gun into the holster.

“You guys will get a chance to test the devices I made for you all later so just chill out yeah?” Chase said, his eyes popping so wide he looked like he was about to explode.

“Now, I thought to myself  _ The girls, especially Gert, might think I’m coddling them, or being overprotective.  _ But of course, just based on some of the stories I’ve heard, monsters don’t exactly distinguish between their targets. So here you go. Armor for all of us. We’re all definitely gonna need it, after all. Safety first, you know.”

Nico and Karolina both shook their heads and said, “We’re fine.”

“I’m not looking forward to fighting much, so yeah, I’ll do without the armor.” Nico said.

“What she said.” Karolina agreed.

Gert looked skeptical, but decided to pick up the gloves, after Chase pleaded with her to just keep them on her for safety. She even put on the gloves and waved her hands about mockingly.

I don’t think I had ever seen Chase smile so brightly before. What a weirdo.

“As for you, Molly, it was a tough one because of your strength. I’m pretty sure that anything you wear will be broken when you try hitting something, and that even if the armor breaks, you’d probably come out unhurt. So I decided to create a mace for you. Y’know, just like Heracles. But it is pretty cool, I guess. You can hit monsters with this. It’s still pretty regular, I know. But I’ll definitely improve on it when I get the chance and some new ideas.  And it beats having to rip something off to fight with.”

Molly squealed and grabbed the club, balancing it between her hands like it weighed nothing.

“I even made it portable. Look.” Chase pressed a button, which caused the club to retract and shrink into a mace can.  “If you take off the lid, you can actually use it like it’s an actual can of mace. Only if you absolutely have to use it on mortals. Hitting the button with the lid on activates the mace. The weapon, not the spray.”

Molly re-activated the mace and swung it around gleefully.

We were busy trying to avoid getting brained when I saw him grab gauntlets from under the table and put them on. They looked eerily familiar and I realized that they looked like the gauntlets Victor had worn to beat Chase with just a few days earlier. I looked at Chase with concern, but he avoided my gaze.

“Now these babies, hopefully, will allow me to control and direct the fire we now know I can create. I call them Fistigons. Pretty neat, huh?”

We involuntarily took a step backwards.

“Come on, it’ll be fine, guys. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“We could die.” Gert and I echoed in unison.

Chase casually dismissed our worries, and led us to one of the ranges, where Chase’s devices not only didn’t blow us up, but actually worked. What a pleasant surprise. He looked really proud of himself as we walked towards the dining hall for lunch.

After being seated, I decided to risk it and tell everyone about the dreams I’d had since arriving at camp. Everyone had a look of slight shock and even disbelief on their faces. We were all at a loss for words, until Molly suggested that we go to Chiron, reasoning that “He’ll know what to do”.  We all agreed, and headed over to the podium, where Chiron was seated on his wheelchair in human form, eating his lunch.

After listening to what we had to say, Chiron stroked his beard. “This is disturbing. And you’re saying these dreams started once you arrived at camp?”

I nodded.

“The voice mentioned problems in the mortal world getting worse as well?”

I nodded again.

Karolina asked, “What’s going on, Chiron?”

Chiron let out a deep breath. “We have been receiving reports from the outside world. Mortals are falling into slumbers so deep that they register as dead. A few days later, their bodies shrivel into husks. Medical authorities are baffled and are still searching for a cure.”

“I heard about that. Didn’t those problems start a while back?” I asked.

“Yeah, and last we heard, the authorities still had no idea what was going on.” Karolina said.

“Is there anything we can do out there?” Chase asked.

“What  _ do  _ you want to do, Chase? Send out good vibes from camp?” Gert questioned sarcastically.

“What I believe Chase is suggesting is that we head out into the mortal world and try to do something about this problem.” Karolina interjected.

We looked to Chiron for his reply.

“Well, that would mean a quest, and demigods generally aren’t allowed to leave camp on quests unless they receive a prophecy from the Oracle. And while I try not to let new half-bloods enter the cave to receive a prophecy, especially with everything happening on the outside now, the fact that you, Alex, had these dreams might signal that you are meant to embark this quest. Follow me.”

Chiron began wheeling his chair along a path that led up to the mountains. When we reached the base, he pointed at a cave on the hill. “There resides the Oracle of Delphi. If she accepts you, she will provide you with a prophecy to guide you on your quest. Now head on, my boy. Let us pray you emerge safely.”

  
“Wait, what?”

Gert raised an eyebrow.  “You scared, Alex?”

“Wouldn’t you be? Cause I’m kind of freaking out here.”

“You’ve got this, Alex.” Karolina flashed another bright smile.

Gert rolled her eyes and made a shooing gesture.

Nico folded her arms and looked around.

Molly and Chase gave me thumbs ups.

My friends, ladies and gentlemen.

I sighed and walked up to the cave, a sense of dread filling my body and almost making me run. I looked back at the others and that gave me the courage to continue on. My friends needed me and I wasn’t about to let them down. Besides, the voice in my dreams told me that I would be too afraid to embark on the quest. Whoever it was really thought they knew me. I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to prove someone wrong. 

I entered the cave and headed in, ignoring the fact that my fear of the dark was making me wish I was anywhere else but here. The moment I stepped into the cave, I began hearing vague whispers all around me, making me feel even more frightened. I looked around and noticed two green orbs floating. With a shock, I realized that those were eyes, and i vaguely could make out the shape of the Oracle. She was sat on a stool in the corner of the cave and was leaning against the wall, almost as if she was lounging and waiting for someone to come by.

“Hello? Is this where I get a prophecy?”

No response.

“I’d like a prophecy, medium sized. Fries on the side and Sprite if you have it.”

Still no response.

I was about to leave when I heard a hissing sound. I turned and saw smoke snaking out of where the Oracle’s mouth would be if she had a human form.

I approached warily and asked the Oracle, “How do I tackle the problem of the mortals falling into deep sleep and dying?”

In a raspy voice, the Oracle said:

 

“ _ Six shall run west to the land of the Dead, _

_ True desires made clear within their heads. _

_ A decision made together clears the way, _

_ And only love will save the day. _

_ A death shall summon the Crooked Prince, _

_ And ultimately bring forth the sins.” _

 

When she finished, the smoke retracted into her mouth, her eyes stopped glowing, and the cave went back to pitch-black darkness. I made my way out of the cave, unwilling to turn my back on the Oracle. At the mouth of the cave, before making my way back down the path, I turned back once and looked into the cave. I didn’t know why, but I had this feeling that I’d be back there soon. 


	10. Guess We’re Going On A Quest

(Gert)

“ ‘Only love will save the day?’ Sounds like some corny-ass Valentine’s Day message, or the ending of some after school special.” I broke the silence that had fallen in the conference room of the Big House, the house with the red roof.

Alex looked over at me.  “We just heard an actual prophecy and that’s the first thing you said?”

I shrugged. “Well, it seemed appropriate.”

Chiron furrowed his eyebrows and said, “The last line is particularly troubling. Bringing forth the sins….. What sins could they be talking about…….”  He settled into silence. 

“.......Okay, so ‘Six run west to the land of the Dead’. That’s the six of us. ‘Land of the Dead’. That would be the Underworld?” Alex asked after the silence became uncomfortably long. “Don’t we have to….. You know….. Die to get there?”

“Nuh uh. I’m way too young to die. Not gonna happen.” Molly said crossly.

“Don’t worry Molly, the entrance to the Underworld is actually in Los Angeles, underneath a place called DOA Recording Studios. Based on what the prophecy said, you will have to head into the Underworld to find out why the mortals are falling into these slumbers and then dying.” Chiron replied.

“What about ‘true desires’? ‘ The Crooked Prince’? ‘ A decision made together?’ What does that mean?” Molly asked, clearly as lost as us.

“What you must understand is that prophecies are always vague,seemingly on purpose, and that stressing yourself over what they could mean could drive you mad. I would advise that you simply focus on completing your quest and return safely.” Chiron assured us, although he clearly knew more than he was telling us.

" How are we supposed to get to Los Angeles, though? Can Tyrone shadow travel us directly to the entrance of the Underworld?”  I tugged at stray strands of my hair nervously.

Chiron shook his head. “Tyrone can only shadow travel short distances, not the distance between New York and Los Angeles. The strain of trying to go that far could kill him and you.”

“Wait, what? We’re in New York? How long were we out?” Nico asked, surprised.

“2 days. When Tyrone tried to shadow travel you all the first time, you passed out, maybe because you were unused to shadow travel, and remained unconscious for his remaining trips.  It was only after we got you here and fed you ambrosia and nectar before you began to recover. And at any rate, the prophecy says that six shall run west. I believe this is a sign that you have to make your way to the Underworld as a group without Tyrone or any of the others.”

I felt awkward enough as it was, but I told the rest of the group that I didn’t think I should join them on the quest. “ I mean, I’m the only one who wasn’t claimed, and I don’t exactly have any special abilities or skills that would be helpful here. You guys should go. Bring someone else from the camp, like Tony or maybe Peter. I’ll stay here and, y’know, make myself comfortable. Not exactly a fighter.” I looked away as I felt myself blush.

“No way. We’re not leaving anyone behind. We’re a team. The six of us are meant to be on this quest.” Alex replied emphatically.

The others nodded in agreement.

“It would be good if you joined the others in their quest. It seems that they really wish for you to join them. And who knows, you might get claimed in the middle of this quest.” Chiron advised.

I sighed. “Alright then, when do we leave?”

“We should look to resolve this problem as soon as possible, so maybe you should leave today. Pack your bags and anything you’ll need. We can provide you with mortal currency, drachmas, and transport to the nearest bus depot. But from there, you’ll be on your own. Whether or not you succeed will be up to you.” Chiron replied.

Silence fell over the room.

“Well, that sounds awesome.” Molly said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Either Karolina is rubbing off on you or I am. I’m not sure which one is worse.” I sighed, pushing her out the door with the others, back to Cabin Eight. We had a lot of shit to do.

On our way to the cabins, Peter ran up to Chase and started talking rapidly about new inventions and things he could bring along on the trip. (Man, word really spread fast around here) I rolled my eyes and headed back to Cabin Eight. As the others were packing bags, I suddenly felt another anxiety attack coming. I ran out of the cabin, hiding behind it and felt me hands start to shake violently. I heard footsteps and prayed that it wasn’t Chase again.

It turned out to be Karolina. I turned away from her and struggled to regain some rhythm in my breathing. She came and sat next to me. To give her credit, she didn’t try to talk to me or coax anything out of me. She just sat there, patting me on the back and holding me while I tried to get my body back under control. I was still sobbing lightly, but Karolina hugged me and stroked my hair as we just sat there. Impulsively, I decided to confide in Karolina about my worries about the quest. That I wasn’t good enough, that I would just be a burden, and I just didn’t want to go and drag the rest down. Karolina pursed her lips and thought about it for a while. 

She replied, “Okay, I’m not sure if this is going to help or even make you feel better. But here goes. When I first came out, I felt all alone, and like a freak. I felt that I didn’t belong. Even my mother was never really okay with it. I wanted so badly to just take it back and pretend to be something I wasn’t. But you guys gave me the courage to carry on. You guys all stuck by my side and made me feel better. Chase made sure sleazy guys in school didn’t hit on me or harrass me. Alex and Chase both stayed with me at parties to make sure I felt safe. Nico and Molly helped set me up with people when I asked them to, and you girls lent me your listening ears whenever I felt lost or alone. Three years have gone by now, and I’m happier than ever, and it’s all thanks to you guys.  It’s the same situation now. You know you’re not a normal human anymore. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t been claimed. You don’t have to hide who you really are. Don’t pretend that you’re normal, because you aren’t. You’re extraordinary. We’ll always be here for you. Because we all know that you’d be there for anyone of us.”

I chuckled, wiping away the tears on my face. “And here I thought you were just a pretty face.”

Karolina laughed and stood up, offering me a hand. “Come on. We should probably head to meet the others.”

“Oh right. The dangerous quest lies ahead. Such fun.”  I muttered as I headed off after Karolina.


	11. I Impale A Stalker

(Nico)

Steve drove us to the train terminal in New York in one of the camp’s trucks, and recommended that we take the train to Los Angeles. “ Planes are too dangerous. If a monster attack were to occur in the air, you guys would be defenseless. Probably would just plummet to your deaths. The Mist should conceal your weapons, but it would also mean that any monster attacks that occur would be hidden from mortal eyes. A hellhound could be ripping you to shreds and all the mortals would see is probably a dog licking you guys. They would never know.”

“Alright then. Good talk.” Chase said, clearly trying to keep things light.

Steve adjusted his cap to conceal his face. He wore a jacket and glove to conceal his metal left arm. He was incredibly fidgety, clearly unused to being in such a public area. He was probably worried about being attacked by monsters, as he was fiddling with the wristband on his flesh arm. “Good luck. I hope you guys make it back to camp alive. With luck, you’ll even make it back in one piece.”

And on that happy note, he hurried back to the van and drove back to camp.

“Okay, the next train to Los Angeles leaves in a few minutes. I’m gonna get tickets first. You guys head over to the platform first, okay?” Alex said.

We nodded and moved over, Karolina linking her arm with mine as we walked over to the platform. Ignoring the feelings I felt when she did, I scanned the crowd for suspicious people. Unable to help myself, I began thinking. 

_ Damn, this is the closest I’ve been to Karolina in a while. Does she like me? Why am I thinking about this? Do I like Karolina? Why are there so many people in trench coats? Why is one of them following Alex? _

Someone was following Alex.

The figures in the trench coats were, I realised, dressed on a similar manner to Steve. Long sleeves, gloves, and wide hats. Most of their bodies were either covered in clothes, or shrouded in shadows. 

“Guys, get on the train. Now. Find a compartment to settle into. I’ll grab Alex and meet you guys on the train.” I said, imploring them to listen to me. Thankfully, they saw that I meant it (or maybe it was just because I didn’t speak much so they didn’t take what I said lightly) and headed onto the train. I waded through the crowd and reached Alex. 

“We have to go. Now. There’s someone tailing you.” I told Alex.

Reflexively, he turned around before I had the chance to hiss “Don’t look.”.

The figure following Alex realised we were on to him, and moved towards us. 

Acting on instinct, I repeated the phrase “Καλώ το προσωπικό ενός”. The staff, which had disappeared when I woke up this morning, re-emerged from my body, shooting straight out of my chest and impaling the figure through his torso (So I was short. Big deal.). The man (it seemed like a man, at least.) was barely fazed by the rod that had been run through his body. He continued to reach towards us, growling in a low tone. I pulled the staff out of my body, yanked it out of his and uttered “Stop.” The man froze in his tracks, unable to move. “Now, genius. They’re everywhere. We gotta get on the train now.” I ordered, pulling Alex along while ignoring him as he babbled something about how my eyes were glowing white.

People in the crowd scattered as I bulldozed my way through. We must have seemed pretty strange, especially me, what with my staff in one hand, and a scrawny teenager in the other. Thankfully, we made it onto the train just before it started moving. We were making our way through the train when Chase popped his head out of the compartment they were in and called out to us. Squeezing into the compartment wasn’t easy, especially with my staff, but we made it in.

“Okay, at least we’re on the way now. This is going pretty well.” Chase started.

“Don’t be so sure about that. Nico just stopped some guy who was following us.” Alex replied.

“Oh, is that why the huge staff is out of her? Hadn’t noticed it.” Gert continued.

Alex filled them in on what happened on the platform, although we still didn’t have much information.

“Barely 30 minutes in the mortal world and we already have unknown assailants after us, and no idea where to go or what to do, except for “Go to DOA”. Great.” Gert sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Well, at least we made it away, right? Smooth sailing from here on out.” Molly said, kicking her feet up onto the unoccupied seat opposite from her.

We made it about three hours before, naturally, trouble found us.


	12. Our Road Trip West Gets Cut Short

(Alex)

“Those guys following us are here.” Nico said, as she slid the door shut, having just visited the bathroom.

“You sure about that?” Karolina asked.

“Definitely. Long trench coats, gloves, hats? All covering up their bodies? It’s gotta be those guys we saw earlier. They’re in the adjacent cabins. They weren’t there before. I think they’re moving towards us. And it looks like they’re getting ready for something.”

“Okay guys, we need a plan.” Chase cut in.

Everyone turned and looked at me.

“Right! I’m supposed to be the strategist. Okay. Let me think……” I began considering all the available options.

“....Oh, take your time. It’s not like someone is out there hunting us.” Gert said sarcastically.

“I got it, I got it. We have to leave now. The Mist might protect the mortals from seeing something they aren’t supposed to, but it won’t save them from a painful death if whatever’s chasing us attacks. Let’s go out the window.” I suggested.

“Out the window of a train moving at high speeds? With no padding or anything to break our fall or keep us safe? Are you sure you’re a child of Athena?” Gert questioned.

“Well that’s the best idea I have. What else would you suggest? If we wait, they might actually attack and we’ll be trapped here.” Alex retorted. “Nico, can you use the staff to cushion our fall or something? Or maybe Chase? Do you have any tools that can help?”

Chase rummaged through his bags and shook his head, having come up empty. Nico frowned and concentrated. “I might be able to do it. I’m not sure if I’d be able to maintain it for long enough, though. ”

“Close enough. Molly, could you crack the window open?” Alex asked.

“Sure.” Molly’s eyes began to glow as she hit the window and busted it out of the frame, causing wind to blow in and whistle.

“Woah.”

“What? Alex said to crack it open, didn’t he?” Molly raised her eyebrows at us.

“Fair point. Nico, you’re up.” Alex moved on.

Nico raised her staff. Her eyes glowed white and she uttered the words ‘Air Cushion’.

“Head down first so you can maintain the cushion. We’ll come down one by one.”

Nico nodded and leapt out the window, floating down onto the ‘cushion’, which managed to keep pace with the train. 

Chase leapt out the window, followed by Gert and Karolina.

I was about to jump when the figures outside swarmed towards the door. I looked through the window in the door and was shocked to see that the figures resembled zombies, in that they had blank expressions and their eyes were shut. Their skin was greying, and their teeth were yellowing and falling out. Some of them had patches of skin peeling off. They looked utterly revolting.  Molly leapt towards the door and held it shut. I went to help but Molly ripped off one edge of the wooden frame of the door and jammed it behind the door, effectively barring the door.

I looked out the window and Chase yelled up, “ Hurry guys! Nico doesn’t look so well. I don’t think she can hold this much longer!”

Nico had a death grip on her staff and her face was turning whiter and whiter, which made the contrast between her makeup and her face even more prominent. She did, however, have enough strength to say (or mouth, I really couldn’t hear her) “Bite me, Chase”.

I turned to Molly and said, “We gotta- Unf!”

Molly tackled me and we fell out of the window and landed on the ‘cushion’ as the door to our compartment was broken by the impact of the figures hammering against the door.

“Everyone’s here, Nico! Take us down!” Karolina yelled out, already having to hold Nico up for support. 

Nico grunted, but she spat out the words “Float Down”. Our air cushion floated down but as we were about half a metre above the ground, Nico passed out. The cushion disappeared and we all tumbled onto the ground. Karolina held Nico in her arms, Gert was wrapped in Chase’s arms, while Molly was hugging me to protect me from the impact.

Gert pushed Chase off her, muttering, “Couldn’t breathe with dude on me”. Chase coughed and just laid there for a while.

Karolina and Nico stayed in each other’s arms a little longer than needed, although that might have been because Nico had passed out. Still, Karolina was hugging her a little too tightly……

My train of thought was interrupted as Molly pushed me off her and sat up with her arms in the air, exclaiming, “That was awesome! When can we do that again?”

“No time. We gotta find some cover. The sky is already getting dark enough, and I’m sure night time is even more dangerous out in the wilderness.” I said as I began getting up to move.

“It’s fine, I got her.” I turned back to see Karolina brush Chase and Molly away as she carried Nico princess style, the staff already having been reabsorbed into her body. I have to say, Karolina was clearly stronger than she looked. Chase slung his backpack onto his shoulder, already having put on his Fistigons. Gert pulled on her gloves, and took out a knife from Chase’s backpack, attaching it and its sheath to her belt. Molly took out her can of mace. I loaded a magazine into my gun, cocking it and turning the safety off. 

We ran into the forest until the sun was setting, and we decided to set up camp for the night. Chase pulled out two tabs of plastic, bent them until a ‘snap’ sound was heard, tossed them onto the floor. They expanded and folded out into two 4-man tents. 

“How do you do stuff like that?” Molly asked, clearly impressed and shocked.

“Magic, I guess.” Chase shrugged. 

“Nico’s freezing. She needs some body heat. You got a sleeping bag in that backpack of yours?” Karolina questioned.

“Well, I do but, Karolina, I can just make a fire if -”

“Sleeping bag please.” Karolina replied shortly.

Chase shrugged, pulled out a double sleeping bag from his, somehow, bottomless backpack, tossed it over to Karolina, and told her, “You do you, girl. Just no hanky-panky, got it? There’s a minor present.” Molly groaned and covered her ears.

“Please. I’ll just be trying to keep her warm. I’m not the kind to take advantage of others.” Karolina smirked and threw the sleeping bag into the tent and slowly carried Nico from her resting place against a tree, back into the tent.

“She does know that Nico is straight, right?” Gert asked.

“So is spaghetti until it gets wet.” Chase said jokingly. “Just let Karolina do her thing, dude. She deserves the chance to at least go for it. And if Nico isn’t into it, at least Karolina would know. ” Chase answered.

Gert shrugged and went back to pulling stuff out of Chase’s backpack, taking inventory of what we had. She pulled out a few pots, jugs, the bow and quiver of arrows Chase had used during the games the night before, some camping food supplies and ambrosia, a few swords and shields, the pouch containing the mortal currency and drachmas we still had as well as a piece of paper that looked like a map. The backpack seemed to be magic, just like the pouch on my belt, except that Chase said it was “pretty much limitless in how much I can carry”.

We quickly set up camp and began preparing dinner, Chase using his fistigons to start a small fire to keep us warm. Karolina helped Nico out of the tent slowly. She looked better, but still weak. As we sat around the campfire, Chase gave everyone their food and we began discussing our plans over our food.

“So. Things went well today.” I started, trying to keep the mood light.

My sense of humour was not going well with the rest of the group.

I told the others about the  _ things _ that had been following us, and while it was disturbing, there really wasn’t much else we could do. After that, though, we all began occasionally looking behind us, as if to look out for the “zombies” (seemed most accurate). 

“Not that the  _ great escape _ didn’t go well, but we’re in the middle of nowhere with no idea where to go next or what to do. We’re lost.” Nico threw her hands up in the air in exasperation.

“We aren’t entirely lost. Tony gave me this enchanted map. It’s supposed to always point us towards our objective, which would be DOA studios. According to the map, if we’re walking there it should take a few days to get there, but we probably won’t be going by that route. Maybe we’ll head for the roads, and try to hitchhike there? We have enough weapons and supplies, so we’ll be able to make it there safely. Probably.” Chase summarised.

“Right, because ‘Probably’ sounds so reassuring right now.” Gert clearly had an unlimited source of sarcasm, although she looked kind of worried. The others all did, and I was sure I had a similar expression on my face. We were out on our own, and even though we had enough supplies, we had no way to contact camp or get any help. We were, well and truly, on our own.

As we finished up our food, Chase stood up and said, “You guys go get some sleep. I’ll take the first watch. Can’t be too careful.”

“We’ll try to leave at sun up, so rest up guys. You’re gonna need the energy.” I followed up.

“I’ll watch for two hours, wake the next person up, and the cycle continues. Sounds good?” Chase continued on.

“Don’t worry, I’ll try to allocate night watch shifts more fairly from tomorrow onwards, so we all get enough rest.” I finished up.

The others nodded in agreement.

“Great, forgot how annoying you two could be, with your two-man act.” Gert rolled her eyes dramatically, which turned into a yawn as she headed back to her tent with the other girls.

I patted Chase on the shoulder as he shifted up onto a tree trunk, making himself comfortable. I headed back to my tent, already dreading the nightmares that I knew were coming.

I dreamt I was back in the cavern, but this time, the voice was talking to another person, shrouded in the darkness. The voice yelled, “What do you mean, they got away? Your men are useless! Which makes you useless to me.” The voice became sharper. “Do you realise the degree of your failures? I should just replace you with your son.” There was a pause, as the voice seemed to be deep in thought. “If these….. _ runaways _ ….. make it to the Underworld, you will have another chance to redeem yourself by taking care of them. Until then, leave me.”

The voice seemed to notice me, and addressed me directly. “You heard that, Alex? Even if you make it to the Underworld successfully, you’ll never survive what awaits you there. Better to just give up and head back to camp now. If you don’t, I’ll be sending you more playthings to kill - i mean - occupy you.”

A distant roar sounded off in the darkness. It was definitely not a happy roar.

“That’ll be the first one.” The voice said gleefully. “Just a warning. Have fun now, Alex. Hope to see you back at camp!”

I was awoken by Gert slapping me across the face repeatedly, and multiple roars in the background. “Alex, come on! We need you. This stupid thing just won’t go down. We need a plan now, or we all die!”

  
  



	13. The First Fight Goes Better Than Expected

(Chase)

 

I knew we were in trouble once the lion turned out to be fireproof.

Karolina was on watch duty when she heard low growls, and she barely had enough time to wake me up before the lion bounded towards her, forcing her to roll sideways to avoid getting ripped to shreds. Still having my fistigons on, I rushed out and started shooting fire at the lion. The lion took several hits, but its skin was barely singed. I saw Karolina rush to the other tent and try to wake Nico and the others up, but the sound attracted the lion’s attention, causing it to charge. She leapt to the side, running and trying to draw the lion away from the tent.

Nico had summoned her staff and tried to cast some spells, which woke Gert and Molly up. I saw her yell “Stop”, but nothing happened. She frowned and looked at the staff, but was forced to duck as the lion charged towards her. She yelled “Lion Trap”, and a bear trap materialised, but the fangs of the trap snapped against the skin of the lion. She tried again. “Lion Down!” The lion halted, seemingly pushed down by some invisible force. It struggled against the force, which caused Nico to grip the staff tighter and exert even more force into her spell. Molly tackled the lion and tried to hold it down, but the lion roared and heaved its body upwards.

Nico screamed and fell to the ground, her spell having been broken, and Molly was thrown to the side like a ragdoll, hitting the ground and rolling. Karolina started glowing rainbow colours and fired streams of rainbow coloured energy at the lion, which barely seemed to faze it. I began shooting fire at the lion again. I knew I couldn’t hurt the lion with my fire, but at the very least I could keep it distracted. I couldn’t let anyone else get hurt. I heard Gert slapping Alex and yelling at him to wake him up. Alex rolled awake after the tenth slap, and saw the lion. He pulled his gun out and emptied his clip at the lion. Most of the bullets bounced off its skin, but one ricocheted off the lion’s eyelid, which seemed to make it even angrier. It roared and began loping towards Alex. He panicked and began reloading his gun, but the lion was too fast. It was about to bite him when Molly leapt in, grabbed the lion’s jaws, slammed them shut, and held them together, similar to a muzzle.

“Come on, man. We need a plan. The lion isn’t affected by my fire or Karolina’s energy streams. We can’t break its skin. What do we do now?” I asked. The rest of us decided to leave Molly to it, worried that we were going to make things worse if we stepped in. Karolina carried Nico over to where we were.

“Okay, I think this is the Nemean Lion. Killing it was the first of Heracles’ twelve labors. If I recall correctly, he strangled the lion to death.” Alex said, looking like he was trying to focus.

“I don’t think that’s gonna work! He seems really pissed off. I can’t hold on much longer.” Molly yelled back, the strain evident in her voice.

“Okay, another version of the stories say that the lion’s skin can’t be broken, but the insides are vulnerable, and that Hercules killed it by shooting arrows into the lion’s mouth.” Alex suggested.

Karolina looked over at me desperately. “Chase, your arrows. You have to kill it.”

I was stunned for a moment. “You sure? I don’t know if I ca-”

“You have to! Please! No one else will get hurt today.” Karolina pleaded.

“Okay. Gert, activate your armor, get Molly’s mace and watch Nico. Karolina and Molly, we’re gonna distract and try to anger the lion so it roars and opens its mouth. Got it?” Alex ordered.

The others nodded. Alex cocked his gun and activated his gloves, Karolina began glowing and Molly’s eyes began to glow.

“Then let’s go.” Alex commanded.

I ran to my backpack and pulled out the bow, attaching the quiver and nocking an arrow. Molly activated her mace and started swinging at the lion. The mace did no real damage, but it kept the lion angry enough that it didn’t focus on anyone else. Alex and Karolina occasionally hit the lion with their bullets and energy beams, but it was clear that Molly was the heaviest hitter. I pulled back the string of the bow and aimed at the lion. I tried to aim for the lion’s mouth, but it clearly remembered how it died previously and didn’t seem very inclined to expose its mouth. It roared when Molly clubbed it on the head, but quickly covered its mouth with its paws when I fired an arrow at it.

“I don’t have a clear shot!” I yelled to Alex, who was still firing on the Nemean Lion, although he was careful not to hit Molly. 

“None of us do! Time for plan B!” Alex yelled back.

“What’s that?” Karolina asked, straining to maintain the energy streams she was firing.

“When I think of one, you’ll be the first to know! Just keep it occupied for now!” Things were going phenomenally.

I tried to isolate the lion in a ring of fire. The lion may have been fireproof, but it wasn’t keen on touching the fire. That gave me an idea.

“Is Nico in fighting shape?” I asked Gert as I ran towards the two of them.

Nico nodded grimly, groaning as she sat up.

“I know I’m asking a lot of you, but I’m gonna need you to create a dome around the lion. An airproof one. I’m gonna shoot a ring of fire around it and the dome has to cover that as well. We’re gonna suffocate the lion. Got it?”

She nodded again and used the staff to prop herself up, clearly not back at full strength. We were only going to get one shot at this.

I yelled at Molly and the others to back away as I poured all my energy into generating the fire. It had to last long enough to burn all the oxygen in the dome. I couldn’t let the lion hurt my friends. Just once I wanted to protect people with my fire. I poured all my emotions into my flames, thinking about everyone I had to protect. Alex. Nico. Karolina. Molly.

Gert.

I gave everything I had into the fire and when I felt I was about to drop, I yelled to Nico, “Now!”

Nico cast, “Dome”, and “Air Begone”. A see-through dome formed over the lion and the fire died out almost immediately as the oxygen was removed from within the dome. Alex, Karolina, and Molly ran over to join us as Nico fought to maintain her spell. The lion was already feeling the effects of the lack of air, and began slamming its paws against the dome. Nico cried out as the lion continued bashing against the dome and she nearly collapsed after a particularly hard blow, but Karolina caught her and helped her back up. The lion’s attacks became weaker and it eventually passed out. NIco held the dome up for a few more moments and released it, before proceeding to heroically pass out into Karolina’s arms. I approached the body cautiously, drew out one of my arrows, and stabbed the lion through its eye. The lion dissolved into yellow dust, leaving behind only its pelt. The others moved over slowly, surprised that my plan had actually worked.

“So what are we supposed to do with that?” Karolina asked, pointing at the pelt.

“Chase should keep that. He was the one who came up with the plan, after all.You did good, man.” Alex said, smiling proudly.

I blushed. “Well, Nico helped too. Couldn’t have done it without her spells.”

Nico was a little too unconscious to say anything in response, so Karolina gestured for me to take the pelt. I walked over and picked it up. In my hands, it seemed to shimmer and morph into a leather jacket the same colour as the lion’s fur. I slipped it on, finding it rather comfortable.

“Hate to break up this celebration, but we have to move. I had another dream, before the lion attacked. Those things that followed us answer to someone, and that someone is taking orders the voice in the pit. He’s going to be sending more monsters to keep us away from the Underworld. And apparently, even if we make it to the Underworld, we’re going to have to deal with whoever is in charge of the zombies.” Alex said, his expression grim.

A silence fell over our campsite, which was broken by Karolina saying, “Then I guess we should head on to DOA studios. No sense in wasting any time.”

Karolina moved over to grab Nico’s and her pack, before princess carrying Nico over to me. I had been collapsing the tents and repacking everything into my backpack, while holding out the map. The others joined me as I attempted to read the map. As far as I could tell, the map centred onto my location, showed the portion of the country I was in. A red line glowed on the map, highlighting the path to DOA studios. I attempted to find my bearings for a few minutes before giving up and handing the map over to Karolina. The camping experience took over as she pulled out a whistle with a compass embedded in it to figure out the direction to head in. We packed up and headed out, already predicting a whole day of long walking ahead.


	14. Heart-To-Heart Gets Interrupted Pt. 1

(Karolina)

We arrived at a town surprisingly quickly that day, which was fortunate. Not that I minded having to carry Nico, but I was starting to feel the exhaustion creeping in a while back and it did feel good to be able to rest. We removed or concealed our weapons before stumbling into town, walking past a electronics store with one of those windows that seem to have dozens of televisions all playing the same thing. I was about to walk right by when I noticed something that had been playing on the television. I stopped with Nico in my arms and began focusing on what was being played : a news report.

“-suspected to be linked to the murder of Destiny Gonzalez.” A picture was flashed on the screen. A picture of the girl who had been murdered by our parents before we arrived at camp. “The teenagers in questions are also suspected to have kidnapped 15 year-old molly Hayes. An Amber Alert has been issued, and anyone with information on the current whereabouts of these 6 teenagers is urged to contact Detective Flores with the LAPD.” Headshots of everyone in our team were displayed on the screen, with a number to dial flashing below the pictures.

“Guys? I think we’re in trouble.” I said, with a sinking feeling in my gut. The others, having realised I stopped, headed back and looked at the screens. Their faces conveyed the shock and betrayal we were all feeling.

“Son of a bitch. They must have framed us.” Chase spat out angrily.

“Let’s get off the streets. People are already starting to wonder.” Alex said, looking around warily. We rushed back into a nearby alley and immediately Chase hit the wall in anger. “Damn!” He yelled. Nico, woken up by the commotion and quick movement, stirred in my arms. I took this as a signal and gently placed her back on her feet.

“What I want to know is : Why did they do it? And why now?” Gert asked, looking at Chase with concern in her eyes.

Alex pinched the bridge of his nose. “There is the possibility that our parents are working with the voice. I mean, think about it. The voice doesn’t want us to reach DOA studios. Those zombies failed to intercept us when we left camp, and almost immediately after, the police are looking for us, making it infinitely more difficult for us to travel. Way too much of a coincidence.”

“So what does this mean?” Molly looked really scared, which, given that she was invulnerable and super strong, really said something.

“That shit’s about to go down for us. As if we didn’t already have enough problems. Also, what just happened?” Nico’s expression was a blend of confusion and exhaustion.

I quickly filled her in on what we just learnt, while Alex and Gert fussed over Chase’s hand. Understandably, emotions were running high as we were all exhausted.

“We should probably get rooms in a motel or something. We’re tired, and people who are exhausted aren’t exactly functioning at 100%.” I suggested, only then realising just how exhausted I was.

“That would work great, but we’re currently on the LAPD’s wanted list. Even the owners of the more seedy motels here might turn us in. What happens then? We fight the LAPD?” Gert said, exhaustion creeping into her voice as well.

“Chiron told me that Celestial Bronze weapons don’t work on mortals, so we’d only have Karolina’s powers, Nico’s staff and my strength to fight the LAPD with.” Molly interjected, looking ready for a fight.

“Let’s take that as a ‘Break Glass In Case Of Emergency’ Plan, Molls. We can figure out lodging arrangements, preferably one that doesn’t involve the cops.” Chase said, placing his arm on her shoulder to calm her down.

“No, we go to one of the motels and get rooms there. I’ll make sure the innkeeper doesn’t turn us in.” Nico said confidently.

“How’re you gonna do that? Are you a hypnotist? Or does being Hecate’s daughter give you mind control powers?” Molly asked, yawning.

Nico shook her head. “I don’t know, exactly. But I have a feeling this will work. Do you guys trust me?”

The word “Yes.” was blurted from my mouth before I had the time to think about it. I blushed as the group turned and looked at me.

Chase nodded his head and said, “Hell yeah, we do. Let’s go, Nico. Time to find the seediest motel and hope we don’t catch an STI there.”

We walked around the town, sticking to the alleys. After about 30 minutes, we found a suitable motel and walked in. The “foyer” was incredibly dark and there was smoke hanging around, and the only people there other than the innkeeper were several people who were staring blankly into the distance, even though most of the windows were covered up.

Nico and Chase went up to the innkeeper and began asking for one big room for all of us, but the best the motel could offer was 2 adjoining rooms meant for three people each. When the innkeeper asked for identification, Chase tensed up, but Nico leaned in and said “You don’t need to see our identification. Everything is legit here.” 

The innkeeper’s expression turned blank and he repeated in a monotonous voice, “I don’t need to see your identification. Everything is legit here.”

Nico took the keys from the innkeeper and gestured for us to follow her. 

“Holy shit,that actually worked.” Gert said, looking surprised and rather impressed.

“Like Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Alex said, his inner nerd showing.

“But cooler.” Nico continued, looking rather pleased with herself.

Molly and Gert entered one of the rooms, where Alex all but pushed Chase through the door. Nico unlocked the door of the other room, and we headed in. The bed looked exceedingly comfortable, but I knew that Alex needed his rest more than I did, and let him have the bed. He was snoring before he hit the bed, and I sighed enviously. 

Nico slumped into one of the armchairs, clearly spent. I wanted to ask her how she did what she did earlier, but she looked exhausted and I decided not to disturb her. I sat in the other armchair and tried to get comfortable, but couldn’t.

I was struggling with trying to fall asleep when Nico turned to me. “Hey, Karo. You doing okay?” She had a concerned expression on her face.

I turned in the armchair to face her and curled into a ball, smiling at her. “Yeah. I’m fine. How’re you doing?”

“I don’t know? So much has happened so quickly, and I haven’t actually had the chance to think about it. Our parents are killers, who murdered someone in front of us. They planted your girlfriend as a spy to watch us. My mother had a staff that I now have and can use to cast spells with, when it’s not somewhere inside me. How is it not poking out the top of my head right now? I’m not very tall, if you haven’t noticed.” She pointed at her chest, then to the top of her head, an exasperated expression on her face.

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. It was the first time I had laughed in awhile, a good hearty laugh, and I was glad Nico was the one who brought it out.

“Then, after a fight, we’re whisked away to a secret hidden camp, where we find out we’re children of greek gods and goddesses. Our friend reveals that he can summon fire, and another shows that she has incredible strength by bitch-slapping your ex with a tree. We receive a prophecy, leave camp, are stalked by zombies, camp out after jumping off a train, and fought the Nemean Lion, where I passed out during 40% of those activities. Did I miss anything?” Nico continued.

“Well, we’re wanted for murder and kidnapping. Plus we’re hiding out in a motel where it looks like just lying on the bed could give you an STD.” I tried to sound upbeat, but there really were some things you couldn’t put a positive spin on.

Nico seemed to appreciate it though, and chuckled. “Every girl’s dream vacation.” She said, gesturing to our general surroundings.

“I’ll take note next time.” I said, smiling broadly. 

Nico raised an eyebrow at me. “Next time?”

This time I  _ knew _ I was blushing as I felt the heat rush to my face and looked away. Nico always made me feel a particular way, ever since we were kids, even before I knew I was gay. I had dismissed those feelings since I got together with Tryphena. The feelings I had with her did not feel like the feelings Nico gave me, and I had assumed that it wasn’t love I felt for Nico. Now, I wasn’t so sure.

Nico still had her eyebrow raised, but she looked slightly concerned this time. “You alright?” She asked, placing one hand on my arm. 

“Just wondering about Tryphena.”

“Oh.” Nico’s hand pulled back slightly. She just left it there, as if she wasn’t sure what to do.

“I was just thinking about how, even when I was with her, I always had to be good. Be the perfect girl. When I first came out, my mum didn’t approve and during the period of time between her finding out and her accepting it, I tried so hard to be the kind of girl she wanted me to be. I didn’t want to let my mum down. I didn’t want to let Tryphena down. But now, I find out that my mum is a murderer, my ex was a monster who was planted there by my mother to spy on us and keep tabs on us, and I have abilities that actually make me glow like a rainbow. And somehow, I feel….. Liberated?”

“How so?”

“I can be who I really am with you all. I don’t have to hide anything. And I can honestly say, I’m enjoying this quite a bit. I don’t have to care what others think about me as long as I’m with you guys. I can do whatever I want, and maybe go a little crazier than normal.”

“You’re saying you’re rebelling? You? Karolina Dean, badass? Stranger things have not happened before.” Nico joked, lightly punching me in the arm.

I laughed. “What’s so hard to believe about that? I can be a badass.” I tried to look intimidating, which really wasn’t easy when you’re curled up in a ball on a dingy old armchair, probably looking horrible and tired.

“I think the most cruel thing you’ve done is probably badmouthing Eiffel behind her back in the toilets to me after making sure there weren’t any other girls there. Which is really saying something.”

“Hey! I thought that was a little bad of me, you know. She really had it coming though, making fun of our trans classmate for almost a year. What a dillhole.”

“‘Dillhole’? You sound like a child-friendly swearing mascot from the 90s. Which just proves my point.”

“Fair enough. But hey. I fought a lion. Pretty badass right?”

“Yeah, way more badass than me. I swear I spend more time passed out than I do being useful in actual fights.”

I shifted my body so I could sit up straight. “You are useful. We wouldn’t have gotten off that train safely without you. The lion was taken down because of you. And you got us these rooms without getting the cops involved. Don’t look down on yourself, okay? You know that you’re doing the best you can already.” I instinctively reached out and tucked one of the tray strands of her hair behind her ear. Her hair was still worn down, and she looked really good.

Nico looked at me strangely, and I met her eyes at this point. I don’t know how I had never noticed this before, but her eyes were an incredibly calming shade of blue and I realised, in that moment, that I could have happily spent hours staring into her eyes and getting lost in them. 

“Is everything okay?” Nico asked, looking away self-consciously, and I felt the strange urge to go to her and hug her and tell her that she was good enough, that we appreciated her, that I appreciated her. I wanted to help take her problems away, but I was still struggling with the emotions I was feeling, and I didn’t know if anything I did would make things better.

_ This doesn’t mean anything. I’d do the same thing for any one of the others, and I already did do it for Gert.  _

_ I shouldn’t make a move. If she isn’t interested in me, I could lose a friend. A really good friend. And I don’t want to lose Nico. _

I spent some time trying to figure out how to untangle my thoughts, and Nico shook her hand in front of my face. “Earth to Karolina. You there?”. I snapped out of the daze and tried smiling. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I tried to laugh it off, but I realised that something had shifted. Maybe it was the way I was looking at Nico, the way I thought about her, but something seemed different. I knew that the feelings I had for her were more than just that between even the closest of friends. But I didn’t know what to do about it. Nico looked confused, maybe as confused as I was. We sat in silence, with me feeling more awkward by the minute.

“Can I tell you something that’s been eating me up inside for a while now?” Nico said abruptly.

I nodded, and wondered what was about to come.

“I know the police never found Amy’s killer, but I…. I’m pretty sure it’s my fault she died.”

I probably looked as startled as I felt. “What’re you talking about?”

“Amy was trying to tell me something, a few days before she died. It seemed pretty urgent. She had a bag packed with her essentials and clothes, like she was getting ready to run away. I went through it after the police were done investigating. There were some of my clothes inside too. I’m starting to think that Amy might have found out about our parents, and they might have…….”

I sat there shocked. I didn’t know what to say, and the phrase “I’m so sorry” just didn’t seem adequate. I didn’t even know if I should have gone over to comfort her or not.

“She kept trying to tell me something. Maybe…. Maybe she wanted to bring me away from Tina. Maybe she wanted someone to investigate with her.”

Nico broke down sobbing. “I should have listened to her. I waved her off because of some stupid shit - I can’t even remember what it is now. I didn’t listen to her and a few days later she wound up dead. And it’s all my fault! If I had listened, Amy might still be with us! I killed Amy!”

I leapt out of my seat and ran over to Nico, taking her into my arms. She was still seated, so I had to kneel on the floor to hug her. She placed her head on my shoulder, hugging me behind my back, and I could feel the teardrops rolling onto my bare shoulder. I stroked her hair and just let her cry. I had a feeling she had been holding that back for a while. She had been repressing her emotions about her sister’s death for close to a year, and now, thinking that she might be responsible for her death? It was almost too much for one person to bear. I felt her hugging me so tightly as she sobbed, like she was drowning and I was a raft, raising her above the waters so she wouldn’t drown. I hugged her back, trying to send as much positivity I could muster her way. Gradually, I felt her relax in my embrace, until she was just hugging me naturally.

“Hey.” I said gently. Nico raised her head and looked into m y eyes. “We were all hit hard by Amy’s death, but it is  _ not  _ on you. I might not know what happened to Amy, but now that we know our parents’ might have something to do with her death, we might finally be able to get some answers. What I am positive of is that the only way we figure this out, is if we stick  _ together _ .

Nico smiled briefly, just a flash of it, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. She looked away, and just as I was about to cup Nico’s face with my hand, I heard shots being fired in the room next door and low guttural growls.  The noise woke Alex up, and he drew his gun, cocking it. Gert and Chase ran in frantically, Gert already having activated her armour, while Chase still had his Nemean Lion jacket. Chase was using his body to shield Gert, while Molly was still occupied in the other room knocking the zombies into the walls and ground.

“Guys! We gotta go! Shit’s going sideways!” Chase yelled.

  
  
  



	15. Heart-To-Heart Gets Interrupted Pt.2

(Chase)

 

When we walked into the room, I thought,  _ Man, what a swamphole. _

The room looked like it had been ransacked, hit by a hurricane, then ransacked again.  Molly took one look at the room and shook her head. “Uh uh. Not sleeping here. I’ll look around outside. Maybe if I fall asleep outside you can put me on the bed and I’ll forget about how bad this room is.”

Gert shook her head. “Not gonna happen, Molls. It’s not safe out there.”

Molly folded her arms. “Come on, Gert. I’ll be just outside at the reception area. I don’t really want to stay in this room any longer than I absolutely have to be.”

Gert sighed, shutting her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. Molly looked over to me and I thought I saw her wink. Wait, no. She actually did wink. Which meant…….

Huh. If this worked, I was going to have to get Molly something special. Youngest of us all and yet she’s the best wingwoman.

“All right, just…. Don’t wonder too far, alright?” Gert gave in after a while of sighing. 

“Got it,  _ mom _ .” Molly smiled cheekily before ducking out the door.

Gert sighed. “That girl is going to be the death of me one day.”

“You realise you’re starting to sound  _ just  _ like the mom she thinks you’re acting like, right?”

“Well, someone has to. We can’t all be the cool big brother who doesn’t give a shit about rules or safety.”

“Hey! I do care about safety, especially when it comes to the people I care about.”

Gert snorted, but she didn’t continue arguing.

I gestured towards the single bed in the room. “So, the bed now?”

Gert raised both her eyebrows. “I mean, even by usual standards, the guy is expected to at least buy dinner for the lady first, so…..”

“You know what I mean. It’s been a long day. You have to be exhausted.”

“Well, I didn’t really do much today. You produced enough fire to keep the Olympic flame going for years. You should take the bed.”

“Gert, please. I want you to take the bed.”

“Oh, so just because you want me to do something, I have to do it?”

“No, you  _ should _ do it because it’s good for you."

“What’re you gonna do if I insist on letting you have the bed?”

“This.” I swept her off her feet in a princess carry, cutting off any other arguments she might have been prepared to launch at me. I walked over to the bed and was about to place her down gently when she struggled slightly and I lost my balance. We both fell onto the bed, Gert lyin g on top of me. We were staring into each other’s eyes, and I felt myself taking quicker breaths. Gert was breathing hard as well, and she was blushing furiously. (Probably as much as me, if we’re being honest.)

Gert pushed herself up on her arms, her body still over mine. I wanted to say something, but it felt like my voice was stuck in my throat.

“What?” Gert questioned.

I decided,  _ screw it,  _ I reached out to her, placed my right hand on the back of her neck, and pulled her down into the first kiss I had had in a very long time. Our lips met, and I couldn’t help but remember flashes of the first time something like this had happened.  The roof. Shooting stars passing by. Gert scolding me for zoning out and not recording any of our observations. Us talking, which eventually led to us kissing. The shy smiles we had given to each other afterwards.

We continued kissing as I pulled her further down the bed. Gert bit my lip as we continued to kiss and I had never felt so happy in my life. However, she suddenly gasped and pushed herself off me.

“Woah.” She knelt on the bed, a distance from me.

“Woah yourself.” I sat up, chuckling.

“Why does this always happen?” Gert sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

“What’s wrong?” I wanted to close the distance between us and ask her what was going on, but i got the feeling that that would not be a good idea.

“I...I….. I shouldn’t have done that. Can you please go?”

“Look, Gert, I just want to-”

“Go. Please.” She was actually crying now, but she kept turning her face away from me as she attempted to conceal her face from me. I got the feeling that she wanted to scream at me, but for some reason, she didn’t.

I nodded slightly, beginning to get off the bed. When I got off the bed, I turned back to Gert.

“I’ll go, alright? Just…. Just tell me what’s going on first? Please.” I didn’t understand what was happening and I desperately wanted to help, but I didn’t have any clue what was going on.

Gert turned towards me, her eyes already red from crying. “I know that that was a spur of the moment thing. I know that you would never like me for who I am. I have anxiety and self esteem issues, I’m a sarcastic asshole, and I can’t stop flinging insults at people. Why would you want me? You could have anyone you wanted. You’d do so much better than me. I don’t want to drag you down, okay? Because I - I think I really like you.”

I felt like I was hit in the gut by a hammer. I couldn’t believe what I just heard. My disbelief must  have been obvious, because Gert continued, “See? You’re unsure of how to react because of what I just told you, but I’m pretty sure you don’t feel the same way about me.”

I took a deep breath to steel myself. I knew what I had to do, what I had to stay. “You’re right. I don’t feel the same way as you. But I’m absolutely sure about how to react to what you just said.”

I moved forwards, having to go down on one knee to be able to talk to Gert without having to strain her neck. “I love you, Gert. I’ve never been more sure of anything. Except maybe that Karolina likes Nico. But anyway. I’ve loved you since we were kids. You think that you might have flaws. I think they’re what make you you. I wouldn’t change anything about you. I love you just the way you are. I’ve always known how I feel about you, I was just always afraid to tell you. Everyone I love ends up hurt, and I didn’t want to hurt you. But I don’t want to hide this anymore. I’m tired of hiding it. I love you, Gertrude Yorkes.”

Gert, for once, was at a loss for words. She stared at me, tears filling her eyes again. Suddenly, she cupped my face, brought her face closer to mine and kissed me passionately.

I felt myself melting into her as she continued kissing me. I didn’t want it to end, but Gert pulled away to catch her breath. I looked at her, giving her one of her signature “one eyebrow raise” look and smiling slightly. She was still breathing hard, but she managed to whisper, “I love you too, Chase Stein.” She smiled, and we continued kissing. 

We stopped after a while and just cuddled, Gert choosing to lie on me, stretching one of her arms across my chest. “What did you mean earlier, by ‘ Everyone I love gets hurt’ ?”

I froze, but tried to recover. “Well, I think the main takeaway should be that I love you.” I said, trying to put on a smile on my face.

“Don’t change the subject. Does this have something to do with your mom?”

I froze again. Damn, how did she know? I thought to myself,  _ Should I tell her? What if she gets scared away? _

I heard another voice in my head, a voice that sounded different, not like the voice Alex had heard in his dream. The voice was deep and burly, and I could tell that the voice belonged to someone special. _That was a part of your past. You have to embrace it. Gert loves you. She will stick by you even through something like this._ I sighed and began telling Gert what had happened with my mom and my fire. When I had finished, Gert pulled my head onto her shoulder and just patted the back of my head in an attempt to comfort me. I had broken down several times during the retelling of my encounter, and having Gert there to anchor me kept me feeling slightly better. She hadn’t backed away in fear, or given me any dirty looks. I started feeling optimistic, that _this_ might end up working.

“I…. I don’t know how this works, ‘I’m so sorry’ seems like a meaningless phrase, and nothing else really seems adequate.”

I looked over. “I’m feeling better now, with you here. You have a comforting presence.” 

Gert smirked. “Guess I just have a way about me.”

“Sure you do. Now, you. Rest. I can’t have you being exhausted on me.”

Gert nodded, and closed her eyes. We just laid there, enjoying each other’s presence and resting together, but before long, Molly pulled the door to our room open, startling the two of us. She looked incredibly afraid, and she was breathing quickly as she slammed the door behind her.

“They- They- The people outside- They just passed out suddenly and they- they turned into-”

The door to our room burst open as the zombies rushed into our room. One of them looked surprisingly like the receptionist, and was even dressed like he was earlier.

_ Oh shit. _

Gears clicked in my head as I came to a realisation about our quest, but the zombies attacked and I was distracted. Several of them pulled out guns and fired at Gert. Molly was busy taking out the ones who had swarmed in earlier and didn’t notice. I yelled, and dove in front of Gert, placing my body between her and the shooters. Somehow I didn’t die. The bullets hit my jacket and just bounced - The Nemean Lion skin. It must have been bullet proof.

“Gert, your gloves!” I yelled at Gert. She nodded and activated her armor, pulling her knife out and holding it out in a defensive stance. I grabbed my backpack, pulled out the fistigons, and started shooting fire at the zombies with the guns. I hit several of them, but tried not to burn the zombies too badly. I missed some shots, though, and small fires were started.

“Molly! We gotta go! Now!” I yelled as I gestured for her to head through the door to the other room. She nodded and I covered Gert as we ran for the door. We busted through the door to the other room, where Alex already had his gun out and was aiming it at the door. Nico and Karolina were huddled together at one of the chairs, but stood back up as we barged in. 

“Guys! We gotta go! Shit’s going sideways!” I yelled at the others.

Nico summoned her staff, Karolina began glowing, and Alex began firing in the direction of the door. The bullets took out some of the zombies before I yelled at Alex to not fire any kill shots. 

“Why the hell not?”

“They’re mortals! The people who fall into their slumbers are turned into the zombies!”

  
  



	16. Zombies Aren't Easy To Kill (Or To Not Kill)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!! Glad you guys are enjoying my works, but I'll be busy for the next 3 weeks and will be unable to write or post any new updates. This might be the last new update for a while, but I will get back to you guys ASAP and continue writing . Feel free to leave comments on what you think might happen next/any elements you'd like me to include in this story (will definitely give credit if used). One of my favorite things about writing these stories are the comments you leave (and also do leave me your feedback if possible!!"

(Nico)

 

I had never been more confused.

 

The zombies were mortals? Things were getting way too weird.

“Well, the good news is we don’t have to worry about that now. Bad news….. We might not live long enough to worry about that, period.” Alex knew just how to make us feel better.

“Let’s just focus on surviving, alright?” Chase stated. I saw his hand reach over to Gert’s hand, and he took her hand in his own. Surprisingly, Gert didn’t pull her hand away or swat his hand away. 

I looked at them and raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll fill you in if we get out of this alive.” Gert cut in.

I tilted my head, but didn’t have much time to do anything else. The zombies burst through the door, since Molly couldn’t hold them all back. Alex began firing at the zombies, targeting their limbs and avoiding head shots, since those would most probably be lethal. Karolina fired energy bolts at the zombies, although I could see that she was holding back so she wouldn’t injure the zombies. I realised I was staring and shook myself out of it. I turned to face the zombies and began casting spells. 

“Push!” Several zombies flew backwards.

“Down!” Zombies were pushed onto the ground, where they continued to crawl towards me.

“Stop!” Zombies froze in their tracks, unable to move.

“Two left feet!” The zombies in front of me immediately tripped over their feet.

I was starting to get the hang of using the staff. From what I could tell, I could only cast each spell once every 24 hours. If I tried regardless, nothing would happen.

As well as we were doing, the zombies began getting closer. I slowly ran out of spells to use. Karolina looked like she was growing more and more tired, and Chase couldn’t use his fire anymore unless he wanted to hit us with the fire as well. He had begun using his fistigons to hit the zombies and knock them backwards. Gert was wildly slashing with her knife, and while the zombies looked afraid of her, it wouldn’t take very long for her to get exhausted and falter. Molly was still being swarmed in the other room, and I didn’t know how long she could last.

“Molly! Get over here. Now!” I yelled.

I turned to Karolina and Alex, who were beside me. “Everyone get ready to link arms. The moment Molly gets to us, we’re getting out of here.” Molly began charging over, flinging zombies in her way like ragdolls. She was about half the way over to us when Gert overextended her swing with her knife The zombies took advantage of this and swarmed towards her, grabbing her arms and pulling her towards the door.

Molly and Chase howled in anger and both began charging towards Gert. Molly flung the zombies aside, looking like she was swimming towards Gert through the sea of zombies. Chase somehow lit his fistigons on fire and was pummelling the zombies in his way. They reached Gert at the same time, each grabbed one arm and headed back to the group. 

“Alright, link up now!” I yelled. We linked arms as I cast “Please Stand Behind The Yellow Line!”. The zombies were dragged backwards by an invisible force, away from us. It was safe for me to cast the other spell now.

“Get us to safety!” I yelled and the wind picked up, swirling around us. The last thing we heard as we were transported by the spell were the zombies growling and howling.

  
  
  


 

I groggily woke up and looked around. We were in a room that seemed really familiar, with white wallpaper, stuffed toys on the bed, tennis trophies- Shit. We were in Amy’s room. I was in a state of shock, such that I barely noticed Karolina stirring beneath me. She blinked uncertainly, looked up and just went “Hey.”, smiling. I looked down and replied, “Hey.”, before realising the situation we were in, and pushed myself off her.

“Sorry.” I said, blushing.

“It’s all right.” Karolina placed her hand on my shoulder and smiled.

“Jeez guys, get a room.” Chase called out from about half a metre away. Ironic, considering Gert was asleep on top of his body and they were basically cuddling.

“Why did we end up here?” Alex, ever the strategist, was already up on his feet, looking around the room, out the window, and heading towards the door to check if Tina was at home. The fact that he didn’t go ‘Oh shit oh shit she’s here’ suggested that she wasn’t in sight.

“ I- I was thinking about her earlier, and the staff probably just channeled my inner thoughts.”

“Well, good news guys. The map says DOA studios is about five minutes away by walking.” Chase said.

Alex walked over to us. “Alright guys, here’s the plan. We rest up tonight in Amy’s room. I’m assuming Tina hasn’t come in here or opened it since…. The incident. Right?” Alex looked over to me, and I nodded slightly.

“We should be safe in here as long as we don’t make too much noise. We’ll wait till tomorrow to rest up, and we’ll head straight to DOA studios, all right?”

We nodded slightly. 

“Okay guys, not much need for a schedule but just sleep early and rest alright? When we head out tomorrow, we’ll be in for the fight of our lives.” Alex really knew how to lighten the mood.


	17. Something Unexpected Happens (Are We Surprised Anymore? No)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the next chapter might be interesting since it's gonna be something new, but it might take a while so thank you for your patience to wait for the updates!!! I'll post new chapters as soon as I finish writing them

(Alex)

I really need to start wearing a tinfoil hat to sleep. Or maybe just not sleep at all. Whichever one makes me sound less crazy.

 

I found myself back in the same cavern, and this time I could feel all these  _ eyes _ on me. I didn’t understand how I knew, but it was sort of like the feeling you get when you think someone’s watching? Only intensified by about a million times. I felt unnerved and wanted to hide away, but couldn’t. As always, I was frozen in place. I had no idea why I could never move by myself. What if I needed to pee in the dreams? I never seemed to be able to wake up or stop dreaming. Would I pee on myself?

 

Mercifully, a voice cut through the darkness, but it wasn’t the voice I had been hearing in the past few dreams, This voice boomed out smooth and deep, the kind that sounded like Morgan Freeman’s voice. The voice made me feel sleepy (was it possible to fall asleep in a dream?) and I had to struggle to focus on what he was saying.

 

“The preparations are almost done. About 300 soldiers will be ready to move on the camp in about 6 hours. They will never see it coming, and we’ll be able to wipe them off the surface of the earth. No more pesky half-bloods to come to the aid of the gods.” 

 

“Well done. And the pride?”

 

I couldn’t see the new person speaking, but I could feel the contempt in their voice. “They stand ready as well. They will aid us in our assault.”

 

“Very well. You have done a remarkable job, Hypnos.”

 

The name jolted me awake and I sat up from my lying position on the floor, panting hard before wiping off the sweat on my forehead. I looked around at the others, who were still sleeping, for some reason. Maybe they didn’t have nightmares every time they fell asleep. Lucky morons.

 

I got up and started moving towards Chase. If anyone could help me, it would have been him. Unfortunately, as unconscious as he was, he was in the middle of an spooning session with Gert. Who knew Chase would be the little spoon?

 

I shook my head and headed over to the laptop on Amy’s table. I opened it up and typed in ‘Hypnos greek god’. The search results that came up were surprisingly scarce. The few reports and websites I could find information on told me that Hypnos was a minor god, the god of sleep. He had three children; Morpheus, Phobetor, Phantasos, who were minor gods related to dreams. I read, and read, and read, and didn’t even notice the sun coming up, and the others waking up gradually. I suddenly felt a hand patting me rapidly on the shoulder. I turned and saw Chase standing over me. 

 

“You all right, buddy?”

 

“Yeah. Top of the morning to you too, man.”

 

“I don’t know how to tell you this but-”

 

“Alex, you look like a panda rubbed its face on you so hard that there’s now a panda out there with a plain face.” Gert interjected as she walked towards the window.

 

“Thanks sweetie, not too direct or anything.” Chase sighed, but he looked like he had an upside down hanger in his mouth, so he wasn’t really fooling anyone else.

 

“You’re welcome, sugar boots.” 

 

“Yeah, thanks, Gert.” I was unsure of what else to say. Chase looked so happy, and I didn’t want to ruin his mood, but I knew that the rest should at least know what was going to happen.

 

We gathered on Amy’s bed and I filled everyone in. About the army about to storm Camp Half-Blood, the fact that our parents might be leading the charge on the camp, and who our enemy was.

 

“Hypnos? Jeez, who comes up with these names?” Molly looked vexed at the thought of the camp being attacked.

 

“Okay, 300 zombies shouldn’t be that bad. We know the camp is well defended, and we might not even make it back in time.” Nico pursed her lips and placed her hand on her chin.

 

“I agree. The prophecy stated that if we want to tackle the problem of the zombies, we  _ have _ to head to the Underworld. Maybe by taking on this Hypnos fella, we can solve the problem at the roots. If nothing, he might know more about what we’re going up against.” I looked around the room at everyone else. We all looked scared. Big surprise. “Nico, you good to transport us to DOA?”

 

She shook her head. “If we’re in for a fight, I don’t think I should use any spells, unless I have to. Plus, it might not be a good idea for us to get DOA with a passed out me.”

 

“Shh! I heard someone at the door.” Molly whispered, her ear placed against the door.

 

We all fell silent as we huddled together off the bed.

Out of the blue, we heard Tina yelling, “Whoever you are, you have 10 seconds to get out of this room! Or I am going to kill you!”

 

Nico looked terrified as she gestured for us to link up, the staff already in her hand. She whispered “Get us to DOA”, as Tina began hacking at the door and smashing it to pieces. We disappeared as the magic overtook us.

 

The first thing I felt was a slam as I fell onto the floor. The others followed soon after, Chase catching Gert as she fell, and Nico floating down and nearly collapsing before Karolina and Molly caught her. She brushed us off with a simple “I’m fine.” and began heading towards DOA, which was the building we fell in front of. 

 

“Woah, woah, woah, stop!” Karolina whispered frantically, pulling Nico away from the door and away from the windows. She gestured for us to join them. “What’s wrong?” I asked, placing my hand on my revolver, and began scanning the surroundings for any hostiles.

 

“I saw my mom and your dad.” Karolina’s face looked pale. “They talked to the receptionist before heading into the elevator.”

 

“Well then, guess the receptionist is the way to go. As long as he doesn’t turn into a zombie, I’m fine.” Chase said as he headed into the building. We couldn’t stop him in time, shrugged, and followed him in.

There were spectral figures sitting in all the chairs in the room, most of them holding slips with numbers on them. There was a screen flashing numbers on the screen. The place was like a waiting room. The receptionist had a name tag on his shirt that read “Charon”. He had dark hair, wore all black clothes, and wore dark sunglasses. He was doing a crossword puzzle, and didn’t look up when he heard us coming in. We approached him warily. He only looked up when we were standing in front of him, and asked lazily, “May I help you?”. 

We looked towards Nico, who sighed and moved towards the counter and flashed a smile at Charon, which looked really strange on her. “We need to get to the Underworld. You’re okay with helping us, right?” 

Charon smiled, and for a moment, it seemed as though things were going well. “Daughter of Hecate, you may be able to control the Mist, but you suck at it.” Oh shit. 

“You know who we are.” Chase said, the fistigons having somehow appeared on his fists. 

Charon shrugged. “Was pretty obvious from the way the Mist curled around her.” We looked at Nico, who was swatting around her body, like she was trying hit some flies. “The rest of you are a mystery. But you’re clearly not dead. And you need to be dead to enter the Underworld.”

“I want to die, does that count?” Gert piped in.

“And I’ve been dead inside for the past year, I think that should count.” Nico countered.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose and sighed. “Yeah, this is going really well. Look, We’re here on a quest. It’s probably a suicide mission. Which means we’re gonna end up back here eventually. You letting us through now is actually going to make your job easier.”

Charon looked at us thoughtfully. “ Tempting…. It would save me some time to not have to process your applications.”   
  


“And maybe once we leave, there’ll be a bonus left here for you? No one has to know.” Chase pulled a few drachmas out of his backpack and began piling them up on the table across from Charon.

Charon looked at the pile of coins, and nodded his head slightly. “Sure. What the Hades. Let’s go.” He gestured towards the elevator doors, which opened. We walked over together, waited for Charon to step in, before the doors slammed shut and we plummeted down. About a few minutes after we began falling, the elevator morphed into a gondola. We slammed onto a river hard, the impact jolting us off the floor. We landed hard on the seats on the gondola. The water was splashing around us, but none of the water landed on us.

“You should be grateful. The waters of the River Styx would destroy your body if you are unprepared.” Charon said. His clothes had morphed into a pitch black cloak, but the sunglasses remained for some reason.

“Sounds like a fun river.” Molly said, looking over the edge of the boat at what was in the water. We saw millions of items floating in the river ; diplomas, wedding certificates, dozens of rings glistening in the water, and tons of other items.

“The River Styx contains all the dreams mortals lose as they traverse from life to death. And not to mention, any oath sworn on the River Styx is binding, and breaking it would lead to consequences far worse than death.”

“Probably not gonna want to take a dip in there then.” Gert was seated firmly in the middle of the boat, trying not to look over the edge. Chase noticed this and headed over to her. They began talking in low voices as the boat continued on. 

I turned to Charon. “So where are we headed to now?”

Charon turned to me, and behind the sunglasses, I saw only empty eye sockets. “This is about as far as you and your friends will go, Alex Wilder.”

Chills ran down my back as I pulled out my gun and aimed it at Charon. “What the hell? You betrayed us?”

“Just business, buddy. After all, your parents paid me handsomely to deliver you here.”

Low guttural growls roared across the plains of the river. The zombies began charging across the plains and ran across the waters towards the boat. I turned and aimed my gun at them but I felt something hit me across the head and I fell into the darkness.


	18. Everyday Is The Best Day of My Life With Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here we go sorry for the slow updates I've been REALLY REALLY BUSY RECENTLY but I'm back to writing (just not as regularly as I used to be able to) But things are getting interesting now and I'm looking forward to writing the next few parts of the story

(Chase)

 

“Bzz... Bzz…Bzz”

 

“Alright, alright, I’m up.” I grunted as I turned in my bed. I felt someone tapping me on the shin lightly, and when I ignored it, gradually turned into rapid slaps on my thigh.

 

“Come on, Chase. Up and at ‘em.” I recognised the voice instantly and smiled, rolling out of my bed.

 

“Good morning to you too, mom.”

 

Janet was seated at the foot of my bed, smiling as she looked at me, the way she did when she woke me up every morning. In the back of my mind, I saw her burning in a fire,, but the details were….. It felt like the feeling you get when you have something on the tip of your tongue, but you just can’t remember it. I decided to shake away those strange feelings

 

“So honey, you ready for today? It’s a big day for you!” I smiled. “Of course. It’s my one year anniversary with Gert. I told you I was gonna surprise her by heading out on one of our “not-dates” before meeting up with the others in the evening. Unless you’re gonna need help at the workshop today?” 

 

Mom laughed and made a shooing gesture with her hands.  “You’ve been planning this for close to 2 months, and it’s clearly taken a lot of time and effort on your part. Go out, have fun. Do date-type things. Or “not-date”-type things. Go, go, go.”

 

I smiled as I got out of bed, got dressed, and checked the messages Gert had sent to me the night before. I saw that her profile picture was a picture of the two of us at the beach, which still made me smile to myself, even though it had been that way for the past 3 months. It made me unbelievably happy every time I saw the picture, and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have found Gert. 

 

We met at Timely Coffee as we had every time we met up in the past year, except now I had a jar of mushrooms in my hand. Gert was gonna love this. She entered through the door and I stood up, smiling as I walked over to her to place a kiss on her cheek and handed her the jar of mushrooms. She looked at it, laughed, and went “Aw, you remembered. That was so nice of you.” She put a hand on the back of my neck and pulled me down into a kiss.

 

I mumbled jokingly, “Maybe you should wear heels next time” She pulled away. “Maybe I’ll just bring a stepstool around next time.” “Well, I could hold it for you.” “Sounds good, Stein.” We smiled and kissed again. We would have probably spent the entire day making out, but the cashier coughed and said, “Coffee with six shots of espresso for Chase Yorkes.” 

I sighed, walked over to the counter and collected my drink. I walked back to Gert and held out my hand. “Milady.” I said, patronisingly. She rolled her eyes and tried to look annoyed but failed, as a smile spread across her face, her hand interlocking with mine as we walked towards our seat. I was about to take a seat when I noticed a shadow behind my chair. 

 

“ 30 minutes early, Wilder. That has to be a new record for you.” I said, rolling my eyes as I pulled him out from behind the chair. 

 

“Hey, I had to switch it up a notch. A surprise only works when you don’t expect me there.” Alex grinned goofily.

 

“You realise that if you weren’t here 3 hours early, I’d be more suspicious, right?” “Only if I wasn’t working as a distraction. Which I am.”

 

On cue, Nico and Karolina burst up from behind us and set off the party poppers they held in their hands, creating a huge mess and startling several other customers. “SURPRISE!!” They yelled, the largest grins I’d ever seen plastered across their faces as they looked at us with confetti sticking to us. 

 

“Damn it, Chase. What’s going on here?” The barista from before walked over, with an annoyed expression on his face. I placed my cup of coffee on the table and raised my hands in an attempt to placate the barista. “I’m so sorry, we’ll clean up and get out, Vaughn.” I said apologetically, reading his name tag to see his name.

 

Vaughn shook his head and folded his arms. “Not good enough. The boss told me to give you this.” He said, pulling a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and passing it to me. Worried, I opened it up and read it.

 

The note read:

 

Have the others surprised you yet?

So immature, it feels like the good old days

I’ve been rooting for you guys to get together ever since you were kids so you can imagine how happy I am to be seeing you guys like this now

Here’s to more years of celebration!!

                                                                                                                                                -Amy

 

“Surprise, lovebirds.” Amy Minoru said as she walked over from the table she had been seated at the entire time, grinning like a proud parent. “I see you got my note. Happy anniversary you two.” I laughed and thanked all of the other kids for not just coming down, but bothering to surprise us, before turning to Alex. “See, that’s how to surprise someone.” “Again, I wasn’t trying to hide from you. It was a tactical gesture to- “ “Sure thing buddy, let’s just grab you a seat before you go all “conspiracy theorist explaining” on our asses.” 

 

Alex chortled with good humor while sitting down, and began chatting with Amy, Nico and Karolina. I put my arm around Gert and pulled her into a cuddle, which she accepted good-naturedly. 

 

“This feels right. Like we’re all where we’re meant to be.” I whispered to Gert.

 

She nodded and closed her eyes, resting against me. “ I love this too. I just wish Molly was here with us.”

 

“C’mon Gert, she had to go to dance academy overseas to chase her passions. She worked so hard for this chance. I’m sure she’s enjoying herself, yeah? She’d be happy for us too.”

Gert hummed her agreement and nestled in deeper. I sighed contentedly and rested against Gert. My last thought before falling asleep :  _ Everything is good. _


	19. Everything Is Not Good

Everything was  _ not _ good. 

 

I ducked behind the pile of molten ash, ignoring the pain on my hands as I made sure to keep my head low and avoid drawing any attention to myself. I couldn’t stop breathing heavily and was just about sure that I was going to get caught.

 

_ Please, don’t hear me. Be distracted with the screams of the damned. The howls of those flying bat things. Anything. _

 

After what felt like an eternity, the horde moved on, grumbling about missing a chance for a good meal. I pushed myself off the rocks after a few tense minutes, barely having the energy to register what must have been severe burns on my palms. I didn’t know how much time had passed since the others had been taken. Since I had broken free and ran across what seemed like the longest field ever. Those things had been chasing me ever since and I had no time to rest since then. I slumped back down and released a pent up breath i hadn’t even realised I was holding in. 

 

_ No rest for the weary. Gotta get back to the others and do……. Something. Anything. Oh who am I kidding? Nothing I’ve done stopped them. Not the trees I threw. Not the rocks. Why would my fists do anything else? _

 

I clenched my fists tighter and started punching the ground, screaming the whole time. Nothing I did made much of an impact, of course. The ground reverted after each hit. The only constant was that my knuckles hurt. So much. I fell back down on the floor and started crying. What else was I supposed to do? It had been a long day. 


End file.
